It Takes Two
by AlexaCardew
Summary: In 2009, recent college graduate Kurt Hummel takes a job as talent agent Ari Gold's assistant and is asked to pretend date Blaine Anderson to help with the actor's coming out. All hell breaks lose when a jealous co-star and the media get involved.
1. The Gold Standard

**AN: Titel comes from 'Into the Woods' This is a Glee story. However, I borrowed some Entourage characters to play in the Glee sandbox. Final draft of my 2015 NaNoWriMo story. The story is complete and I'll update every day. Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.**

 **Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Fox, Entourage to HBO. Original characters are mine.**  
 **Spoilers: Glee: Season 1 - 5, Entourage: Season 1 - 3**

 **The events, characters and firms depicted in this story are ficticious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual firms, is purelycoincidental**

* * *

 **'THE GOLD STANDARD'**

 **E** veryone in Los Angeles knew Ari Gold, self - proclaimed superstar agent. If your goal was to work in entertainment, you'd try to get a job with Ari's agency Gold Standard and if you were lucky, you were hired to work in the agency's mail room. Rumor had it, that the mail room of Gold Standard housed more MBAs than the combined top floors of L.A's leading investment firms. It was a dog eat dog world and whoever came out on top, got promoted to one of the main floors where they would be insulted, belittled and demeaned by their bosses, agents who in turn would be insulted, belittled and demeaned by their boss, Ari Gold. For the longest time, only the prettiest women and the most ruthless men made it out of the mail room. The girls, because 'Gold Standard' and every other firm in L.A preferred their assistants to be smoking hot, especially those higher ups who couldn't afford to exchange their wives for a younger and prettier model. Hoping to get a promotion faster, few of the girls who were hired had a problem with sleeping with their bosses as long as they got something out of it too.

However, this policy tended to have its downside. Clients would make a sport out of seducing the assistants and once they had achieved their goals, would drop them like hot potatoes. Because a client's wellbeing was the top priority of his agency, Ari usually didn't have a choice but either fire his assistant if she made the mistake to complain or transferring her to the devision that was tasked with signing video game developers or the reality show devision.

Next, Ari had tried the male assistant, but he had to fire Josh because he was trying to steal clients so he could open his own firm. If that had been his only offense, Ari would have found a place for him in the company, because as they say, keep your enemies close, but Josh had also made the mistake of trying to hit on Mrs. Ari during an office party.

As everyone also knew, Ari Gold didn't give a fuck about political correctness. He wasn't were he was today because he was nice or played by the rules. Everyone who worked for him, knew not to take it personally when he insulted them. The mail room still broke into a titter, when Ari marched into it on a Monday morning in mid March and proclaimed that he was looking for a new assistant and would interview any guy who could convince Ari he loved to suck dick. When he was met with stunned silence, Ari groaned.

"I need an assistant that I can keep for more than a week. So I want to see every guy who loves dick and every chick who loves pussy in my office today. And don't tell me there aren't any, this is L.A."

A pretty blonde with long legs, solarium tan and large silicon breasts which were nearly falling out of her tight top, raised her hand. As she spoke, Ari could see the chewing gum in her mouth. He refocused his attention on her boobs.

"Isn't that, like, discriminating?" she asked, while a group of equally hot girls next to her nodded along.

Ari shrugged. "My agency, my rules. But don't worry, any devision that isn't movies, TV or music could still hire you," he added with a grin on his face. No assistant would want to sleep with the clients in their less important devisions.

He spent the rest of the day interviewing the mail room's openly gay employees. Unsurprisingly, there were also quite a lot of guys pretending to like dick in order to get the job, but the owner of Gold Standard wasn't born yesterday. Over the weekend, his soon to be ex-assistant had opened every locker in the mail room and had photographed its contents. So if you liked dick, why did you have the centerfold of last month's Playboyhanging in your locker? Three hours later, he'd finally managed to pick one of the two assistants he was looking to hire.

Santana Lopez, 24, with a communications degree from UCLA, was a leggy brunette with a small waist and big breasts. When she caught him starring at them, she told him that her girlfriend was a lawyer and would kill for the opportunity to sue a pig like Ari Gold for sexual harassment. He hired her on the spot and told her she'd start working immediately. Her first job - fire the girl she would be replacing. The rest of the afternoon was less satisfactory, because he didn't meet a single person he could imagine working closely with. Shortly before six, he was ready to call it a day and task Santana with finding him her fellow assistant, when there was a knock on his door and a boy who looked like he had only recently graduated from high school walked in. He was pale, sweat collecting at his temple and his eyes were glazed over. All in all, he looked like he had just rolled out of bed. Ari frowned.

"Who are you?" Ari bellowed, because Mrs. Ari was expecting him home for date night in an hour.

"Kurt Hummel," the boy rasped. Even though he sounded like he'd swallowed a bucket of sawdust, Ari could tell that his voice was unusually high for a grown man. "I was home sick with the flu, but my supervisor called and said you wanted to see me."

Ari studied the young man in front of him. He was of medium hight and medium build. His brown hair was streaked with highlights - natural or dyed blond Ari couldn't tell - and hung limp over his forehead. Because he actually looked sick, Ari gave him a pass for his disheveled appearance this once. He pointed at the chair in front of his desk and made a mental note to have it replaced before his next meeting with a client.

"Sit down and don't touch anything else." Kurt followed the order. He also crossed his legs and wrapped an arm around his middle. "How long have you been working for me?" Ari asked.

"Nine months," Kurt replied. "I started right after graduation."

Ari frowned. He never promoted anyone from the mail room before they hadn't worked there for at least a year. If he allowed it now, would he set a dangerous and irreversible precedent? He turned from the young man in front of him to his computer screen and searched for Kurt Hummel's file. Age twenty-three, born and raised in Lima, Ohio. Two years at Ohio State before transferring to UCLA for personal reasons. Graduated last spring with a major in screen writing and minors in business and communications. He was unattached and had no family in the area. An ideal candidate, because Ari expected from all his employees that they were available to him 24/7. Every contract was for sixty hour weeks, but anyone who worked less than eighty was considered lazy and lacking dedication to the job. A job that also had perks. Like driving your bosses' expensive sports cars, eating in restaurants you could never afford on your own and being on a first name basis with the world's biggest stars.

Kurt squirmed in his seat as he felt the powerful man's eyes on him, waiting for an opportunity to discreetly wipe his nose. Finally Ari Gold, seemed to have made up his mind.

"You have until the end of the week to get well. Next Monday, you will start at seven, sharp. Buy yourself some decent suits. If you can't afford it, go to Boss on Rodeo Dr. and give them my business card. We'll deduct it from your pay. Working for me, means you'll always answer my calls no matter where you are or what time it is. I have two assistants. You and a woman I hired earlier today. One of you will always be here and the other will accompany me to to meetings. Your performance will be the deciding factor. If you work hard and don't fuck up, you could be an agent in a couple of years. Or whatever else you might wanna be."

Kurt nodded dumbly. If this was just a fever dream, he wouldn't be surprised, because no one got out of the mail room before a year wasn't over. Most people he worked with, had been there for two years already.

After his unexpected meeting with Ari Gold, he climbed into a cab even though money was tight. But with all the meds he was on, he couldn't have driven himself. The cab dropped him off in front of an apartment complex close to the UCLA campus. He'd moved into an apartment there, when he had relocated to Los Angeles nearly three years ago and had decided to stay after graduation because the rent was decent and his three room mates were barely ever home as they had similar jobs. The only downside was, that his apartment was opposite a row of fraternity houses and at any time of the day, he would run into drunk students on his way from the parking lot to the building.

After taking more meds, he fell into a dreamless sleep. When he woke up the next morning, he felt much better and got out of bed to have some eggs. On the kitchen table, a package from Gold Standard was waiting for him. It contained his contract, a brand new, black iPhone 3G, a doctor's calling card with a note to get a flu shot and the address of Hugo Boss on Rodeo Dr. As he examined the contents of the package, Kurt smiled. Everyone in L.A knew how powerful Ari Gold was and that working for him would open doors for you. And now, for some strange reason, he was going to be Ari's assistant. All he had to do was not screw up. Because Ari Gold kept his word. If you didn't fuck with Ari, he made sure you went far. Even a studio exec or two had once started out as Ari Gold's assistant.

"So don't mess it up, Hummel," Kurt told himself as he signed the contract with a flourish. "Besides, how hard can it be."


	2. The Firing

**'THE FIRING'**

 **I** t was a relatively quiet Friday morning at McQuewick's. Terrance had cleared his calendar for a friendly game of golf with James Cameron and was set to leave as soon as he had taken care of a few things his assistant couldn't postpone. A commotion outside of his office made him look up. His latest assistant Sugar, a feisty and busty blonde, was trying to stop an irate Blaine Anderson from entering Terrance's office. Even though Sugar was taller than the actor, thanks to her fuck me heels, he seemed to tower over her, his eyes blazing. In his hand, he was holding the latest edition of US Weekly, which the actor was waving in Sugar's face. With a sigh, Terrance got out of his two thousand dollar office chair and opened the glass door separating his office from Sugar's desk.

"Blaine, did I forget about a meeting?" he greeted his client with a smile on his face, before he turned to his assistant. "Call Cameron and tell him I'm going to be late."

The actor ignored him and marched into Terrance's office. Terrance followed him and closed the door behind them.

"How can I help you, Blaine? Did you like any of the scripts I sent over?" Terrance asked, pretending not to know why his client had showed up unannounced.

Blaine slammed the copy of the magazine down on Terrance's desk. It was open to a picture of the actor and actress Rebecca Quinn. "This is your doing, isn't it?" he accused Terrance.

Terrance quite liked the picture. After all, he'd set it up. Rebecca had told his client some made up story about her dead dog, and predictably Blaine had held her hand and tried to comfort her. The paparazzi Terrance had paid to stalk his client, had snapped a picture of the intimate gesture and sold it to the highest bidder. The headline over the picture stated: 'With LLM cancelled, can we root for an off screen happy ending?'.

The door opened behind Blaine and he was joined by his manager Wesley 'Wes' Montgomery and his lawyer David Thompson. He'd gone to high school with both of them and had followed them out West once he'd graduated two years after them. He'd tried his luck with music first, sleeping on his older brother's couch who had made a name for himself in the adult film industry after his regular acting career never took off. For two years, he played every coffee shop that would let him and worked as a singing waiter in a Disney themed restaurant. One day, he performed for a casting director who invited him to audition for a new musical comedy set in high school. The rest was history. Wes, who had just graduated from Stanford, became his manager while David, who was about to start law school, offered him legal advice.

"It's a good picture of you and Rebecca," his agent said, a fake smile on his face, "but if you're mad about it, I'm not sure how I can help you. I'm your agent, not your publicist."

Terrance McQuewick owned the oldest talent agency in Los Angeles. He'd only come out of retirement after firing his former partner Ari Gold for trying to steal clients. Ari had taken their most promising client, Vincent Chase, with him and so, when Blaine Anderson had walked into the agency five years ago, looking for representation, Terrance had decided to fight fire with fire and do with Blaine Anderson what Ari had done with Vincent Chase. Only problem was, as Terrance discovered during their first face to face, that Blaine Anderson was gay. He was also very naiv about it, because the first thing he told Terrance was that he didn't want to be in the closet. He'd watched Jack McPhee come out on Dawnson's Creek when he was sixteen and it had inspired him. The now twenty year old had just booked a role on a musical comedy set in a Kentucky High School and Terrance was certain that if Blaine Anderson actually came out, he would never turn him into the cash cow Vincent Chase was. He convinced Blaine that staying in the closet was for his own good. He told him the horror stories about actors who had come out to producers and hadn't worked since. He told him that if he came out, his career would be over before it even began. His character would probably be written off the show or killed tragically. In the end, Blaine agreed, but he wasn't happy. Afraid that his new client would crumble under the pressure, Terrance advised him to tell any nosey reporters that his private life was private and that he wouldn't talk about relationships. Secretly, he made sure that Blaine was photographed with a young starlet every other week and paid the bouncers in 'Boyztown' to confiscate the cellphone of anyone who owned a camera phone. If anyone talked about Blaine's visits to gay bars, his publicist would make sure those stories were buried and changed to stories about Blaine sleeping with his female co-stars. Blaine's show Loser Like Me had just been cancelled and Terrance was trying to get him on the big screen. The last thing he needed were rumors about his client's sexuality. Blaine Anderson was his less tall, but equally talented and equally good looking Vincent Chase. He needed girls to think they had a chance with him so those girls would badger the networks and studios about Blaine's next projects. Rebecca Quinn, Blaine's former co-star and on screen girlfriend had agreed to the set up immediately, as she hadn't had any offers yet and was desperate to keep her name in the papers. Terrance had not only paid the paparazzi, he'd also written off the dinner as company expenses. In his office, in front of his irate client, Terrance proved that he wasn't such a bad actor himself when he told Blaine he had no idea why he was so angry.

"Cut the crap, Terrance," Wes took over. "It was you who wanted to meet with Blaine and Rebecca to discuss a project they both would be perfect for and then you didn't show because your assistant messed up your schedule. If that's true, why is she still working for you? You've fired people for less."

"She got a second chance," Terrance said tersely. "But I admit, I had ulterior motives when I brought you and Rebecca together. There was no project, but now that your off screen romance is - let's say official, every fucking romantic comedy wants to work with the two of you. We already signed her yesterday so we can sell you guys as a package deal," Terrance smiled and patted himself on the back. If the boy would just listen to him, he could make both of them millions.

"So this has nothing to do with Blaine thinking about coming out now that LLM has been cancelled," David interjected.

Behind his smile, Terrance was grinding his teeth. Why couldn't they just let this go? When he had started out, no actor would have thrown away his career over something like sexuality. His motto was, do whatever you want behind closed doors, but in public you are who I tell you to be.

"I wasn't aware of that development. But obviously now isn't the best time for that."

"Why not?" Blaine challenged him. "Neil Patrick Harris came out like three years ago and he's still super successful. Why can't that be me?"

Terrance wanted to strangle the ungrateful brat. "Your show just got cancelled. His show's just been picked up for another two seasons. And he also wasn't publicly dating one of his female co-stars when he came out," Terrance pointed at the picture. "You can't do that to the poor girl."

Blaine smiled and for the first time since the meeting had begun, Terrance was a little worried. Because the smile on his client's face was nearly manic.

"I fired my publicist this morning, because clearly he's working for you instead for me," Blaine explained as he leaned back in his chair. "As of an hour ago Shauna Mazar has taken over and I'm afraid poor Rebecca will find out from TMZ that we're just two good friends who tried to prank a group of paparazzi."

"As your agent, I have to tell you that that wasn't very smart," Terrance sputtered.

Blaine's smile widened. "Then you'll be happy to hear that as of," he checked his watch, "eleven forty-three, you are no longer my agent."

"What?" Terrance asked incredulously. Behind the glass door, the rest of Blaine's entourage - his drivers and personal assistants Nicholas 'Nick" Duvall and Jeffrey 'Jeff' Sterling held up two large signs.

'You're fired' was printed on them in bold letters.

"You're going to regret this," Terrance seethed. "Without me, you are nothing!"

Blaine shrugged as he got up to leave. "I'd rather go back to being broke with no one knowing my name than letting you dictate my life any longer." As he walked out of Terrance's office, Wes and David lead the way, while Nick and Jeff formed a line behind him. Outside, they were greeted with a group of reporters Shauna had called. Blaine smiled into the cameras.

"Looks like I'm in the market for a new agent."


	3. The Proposal

**'** **THE PROPOSAL'**

 **K** urt Hummel was running late. Which would have been bad enough on a regular day, but today was his first day as one of Ari Gold's assistants. And that meant one thing; under no circumstances could he arrive at the office after Ari did. It still hadn't surprised him when his car refused to start. Just his luck. Back in Ohio, his dad owned an auto repair shop and Kurt had help out whenever he needed money while he was still living at home. So at first, he tried to fix the car himself, but the end result was a smear of oil on his brand new suit. He'd bought three suits at Hugo Boss when his nose had stopped running a few days ago and after checking the prize tags, had handed the sale's woman Ari's business card.

Cursing loudly, Kurt ran back into his apartment and called a cab while he changed his jacket. The cab arrive five minutes later and Kurt thought that maybe, if he was lucky, he would only be a few minutes late and Ari wouldn't find out. And if he was incredibly lucky, Santana remembered their friendship and covered for him.

Even home sick with the flu, the office grape vine had reach him and so he'd found out the next day that Ari's other hire was Santana Lopez, a girl he'd gone to high school with back in Ohio. Though in high school, the only reason Santana had talked to him at all was because they were in drama club together. Kurt, because he was a theater geek, and Santana, because their school's guidance councilor thought it would help her with her anger issues. Kurt didn't find out the reason for her anger until after Santana's graduation – she was a year ahead of him – when her former boyfriend and the school's quarterback posted a picture on his Friendster page of Santana leaving Scandals, Lima's only gay bar, with another girl. When her former classmates started to cyber bully her, Kurt reached out to Santana and told her he'd be there for her if she ever wanted to talk. She never took him up on the offer, but after she heard about 'the incident', it was Santana who convinced him to leave Ohio and join her at UCLA. And it was also Santana who, after getting a job at Gold Standard, helped him get hired there as well after his own graduation. Now, his only hope was that she wouldn't hold it against him that he'd gotten promoted so soon, while it had taken her a year and a half.

Kurt paid the cabbie and rushed into the foyer of the building. Gold Standard was on Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills, like many other L.A based talent agencies. After severing ties with his former partner, Ari Gold had made sure though, that his new agency was the largest in the city with the most office space. After swiping his employee card, Kurt got onto the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. As the doors opened at his destination, he could hear Santana speaking with their boss.

"Yeah, Kurt's here. He just went to the bathroom for a moment."

Kurt quickly hid his laptop bag behind a large fichus before rounding the corner. "Good morning, Mr. Gold," he greeted his new boss politely.

"Call me Ari," his boss waved him off and walked into his office. Once the door closed behind him, Kurt turned to Santana. "Thanks. My car wouldn't start."

Santana pulled a bottle of nail polish from her bag and continued painting her nails. "No problem. But you owe me."

Kurt swallowed. Coming from Santana that sounded like a threat. After making sure that Ari wasn't paying them any attention, Kurt retrieved his bag and settled in front of his computer. For the next two hours, he replied to emails, took calls and familiarized himself with Ari's schedule. He scanned the gossip magazines to see if any of their clients had made the headlines over the weekend and checked Lifejournal and Twitter to see what the fans were saying about the agency's top stars. Shortly after nine, he and Santana got the conference room ready for the staff meeting – tap water for the employees and Evian for Ari. The conference room, which seated twenty people, was equipped with the most modern technology, so every agent could easily share his or her files with the rest of the team. At nine thirty on the dot, Ari marched into the conference room, and Kurt and Santana moved to stand behind his chair.

"Blaine Anderson has been without an agent for nearly seventy-two hours. I gave you the weekend to come up with ideas on how we get him to sign with us."

Kurt perked up. Teen heartthrob Blaine Anderson was looking for representation and coincidentally, Kurt was working in an agency. Maybe they could meet – to discuss business of course – and then Blaine would realize that he wasn't into girls after all and asked for Kurt's hand in marriage. He was brutally yanked from his daydream when Ari yelled at a young agent.

"Don't make suggestions if you don't know shit about the client. Anderson's made it clear he wants to leave the high school setting behind and try to land more mature roles."

"My contact at Warner says they've optioned the rights to Aquaman IV. Gyllenhaal won't do another one and Anderson looks like a younger Vincent Chase," a young female agent piped up. Ari shot her down immediately.

"The script's horrible, I've never even heard of the director and they cut two thirds of the special effects budget. Pass."

Kurt listened intently as the agents tried to convince Ari that they knew the right way to land Blaine Anderson.

"Maybe we should just throw him a party," a senior agent suggested. "Make sure there are plenty of hot and willing chicks for him and his entourage and let him know that we'd take care of his every wish. Lakers' tickets, parties at Chateau, girls; he names it, we provide it. Show him what a full service agency can do for him."

Ari considered the idea for a moment. Then he nodded. "I like it. Wine and dine him before we ask him to get into bed with us." He swiveled around in his chair and turned to Santana and Kurt. "You," he pointed at Santana. "Get me his manager so we can figure out when the guy's available. And you," he addressed Kurt, " find me a venue that screams I'm expensive as fuck."

As they walked out of the conference room, Santana leaned into Kurt and whispered into his ear. "That's so not going to impress Blaine Anderson." Ari overheard her though.

"What was that?" he asked, his tone of voice making it clear he expected an answer.

Santana flinched, but then she squared her shoulders. "Not here," she said, her voice barely wavering.

Ari glared at his assistants. "You two, my office, now!" The boy looked like he wanted to protest, but he snapped his mouth shut. Smart decision.

"Santana, what the fuck are you doing?" Kurt hissed as he followed his irate boss down the hallway to his office. The other assistants on the floor looked at them as if they were being marched to the guillotines. And who knew, maybe they were.

Ari's office was decorated with a large, mahogany desk, a dark brown, leather office chair, a five thousand dollar Kartell sofa for talks with clients and two wooden chairs in front of the desk – reserved for subordinates invited for a friendly chat. The walls were covered with paintings by famous artists, though it was an open secret that the originals hung in Ari's home and would only end up at Gold Standard over Mrs. Ari's dead body. When the door closed behind Kurt and Santana, Ari sat down in his chair. He didn't offer them a seat, before he started yelling.

"What the fuck's wrong with you people today? I started out in the mail room. I was a fucking assistant. It's really not that hard. You answer phones, you take notes and unless you're actually asked your opinion, you keep your fucking mouth shut! So this better be good or you can both pack your bags. How are people going to take me seriously, if I can't even control my own assistants?" The question obviously was rhetoric. "So make it good. Make it fantastic."

Kurt thought it best not to mention that he hadn't done anything and prayed that Santana really had information none of the other agents at Gold Standard had. He didn't want to get fired the first day of his new job.

Without invitation, Santana sat down on one of the chairs and crossed her long legs. She pointedly ignored the daggers Ari was glaring at her.

"While I was in college, I interned with Williams PR. And your boy Anderson, he caused them a lot of trouble. Always getting photographed in parts of the town he shouldn't have gone to – at least according to his agent. Whenever that happened, it was the interns' job to scour the Internet and find a recent picture of him with a co-star. His publicist would make sure that every gossip magazine in the country was speculating the next day, whether Blaine Anderson was sleeping with yet another of his female co-stars. Fortunately, he had plenty of them on Loser Like Me."

"So what were trying to hide?" Ari interrupted impatiently. "Drugs? I have a weed and coke guy, but if he wants something else, I'm tasking you with scoring it, understood? I have three kids. Can't afford to go to jail for a client."

Kurt dug his nails into the back of Santana's chair. He really hoped it wasn't drugs. Sure he enjoyed a joint every now and then, but he wasn't stupid enough to buy the weed himself. His father would kill him if Kurt ever got arrested for buying drugs.

Santana smiled and shook her head. "No, seems like the boywonder likes, ah - you can't say anything to anyone," she interrupted herself and only continued after Kurt and Ari had both nodded, "to suck dick and his agent was trying to cover it up."

"What?!" Kurt exclaimed. "Blaine Anderson's not gay. There are always girls hanging off his arms and he went to the party at the Mansion at least twice."

Santana shrugged. "You have shitty gaydar."

Kurt sputtered indignantly. "I've never even met him. How was I supposed to know he's in the closet?"

"But that's just it," Santana continued, ignoring Ari's muttered 'that's what I'm paying you for'. "According to the assistants at Williams PR, the guy doesn't want to be in the closet. He wanted to come out before his career took off, but his agent convinced him not to. And ever since, the agent has made sure that no one even speculates about his client."

Suddenly, Kurt remembered something he hadn't thought was important before. "Uh, there's this guy at McQuewick's who's been trying to get me to go out with him. He doesn't know I work for you," Kurt looked at Ari, "so he tells me stuff to try to impress me. And he told me last Friday, that a totally pissed off Blaine Anderson walked into the office, brandishing a copy of US weekly. Apparently, he wasn't happy about the story linking him to Rebecca Quinn. That's when he fired his agent."

Ari grinned. "Looks like you two are useful after all. So here's the one million dollar question: How do we convince Anderson that Gold Standard is the right agency for him?"

Kurt raised his hand. "You let him know that you don't want to control his life, that he gets to make his own decisions and that you want to work with him not against him. If he comes out to you, make sure he knows you have two gay assistants. And if he comes out publicly, make sure his career doesn't take a hit."

"You can stay as well," Ari decreed. "Sit down." Kurt slid into the seat next to Santana. Ari considered Kurt for a moment. He'd never in his whole life had a homosexual thought, but he guessed that his newest hire wasn't ugly. He turned to the girl. "Anderson, you know if he has a type?"

Santana's grin widened and she looked straight at Kurt. "Yes, he does."


	4. The Blaine Anderson

**'THE BLAINE ANDERSON'**

 **I** t was Monday night. Blaine and the guys were watching the latest episode of his show Loser Like Me. It had become a tradition over the years. Whenever LLM was on, they guys would get stoned and make fun of the dialogue and the storylines. Blaine wasn't stupid. LLM had made him quite a bit of money – enough to let him buy the house in Beverly Hills they'd rented for years, at the end of season four – so outside of his inner circle, he never had anything but praise for the TV show. You didn't bite the hand that feeds you, even if you thought the storylines were getting more and more ridiculous.

The house, the six of them were living in, had cost him five million dollars. Cooper had helped out with five hundred thousand on the condition that he would be allowed to move in as well. 'Do you know how much more pussy I'd get if chicks see your house and I can prove you're actually my baby brother,' he'd argued. Blaine's finance guy had told him he didn't have the cash to buy the house and the owners were looking to sell. So Blaine had made the deal with his brother.

Few people knew his brother made pornos and those who did, didn't talk about it because it would mean admitting they'd watched Cooper's movies. No, most people knew Cooper Anderson as Blaine's older brother and failed actor. From time to time Cooper would film a new Free Credit Rating Today dot com commercial to keep up appearances, but most people assumed he was just living off his younger brother's money. Cooper had filmed his first credit commercial years ago, when he was still living in Ohio and after getting a lot of praise for it, had dropped out of college, packed his bags, said goodbye to his kid brother and had moved out to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, he never really managed to capitalize on his good looks. His agent got him auditions for two pilots, My So-Called Life and Party of Five in addition to auditions for Beverly Hills, 90210 andMelrose Place, but Cooper never landed a role. Until he was approached by a producer at a party where he was working as a waiter. The man asked whether Cooper had ever considered a career in the adult movie industry. Cooper had replied that he hadn't but was willing to give it a try. By the time Blaine had graduated high school and moved out to California as well, Cooper had won twice at the AVN Awards - the colloquially called 'Oscars of Porn'. Blaine had of course been shocked when Cooper had come clean, but had then decided that as long as his brother liked his 'job', he was okay with it. When Blaine had landed a role on a teen drama two years later, Cooper had decided to play the failed actor in public, so his own career wouldn't affect his brother's. It hadn't been hard. Outside of porn, if people knew him at all, he was only known as the Free Credit Rating Today dot com guy.

Cooper took a drag from the joint Nick handed him and turned to his kid brother. "You should have told me your character was finally getting laid. I could have given you some tips. " Blaine hit him with a pillow. "Hey!" Cooper protested and picked up the joint Blaine had knocked out of his mouth.

"Sorry Coop," Jeff laughed. "But your kind of expertise would only maybe help on cable."

Blaine made a face. "I'm glad Loser wasn't on cable. I already had to make out with Rebecca nearly every episode for five years. I'm just glad her character was saving herself for marriage, so I only had this one sex scene with her." He drank from his Desperados to wash away the bitter taste in his mouth.

"I'd totally do her," David interjected.

"And I'd introduce you properly if I weren't afraid that you would hit it off," Blaine shot back before opening the mini fridge next to the couch and taking out another beer.

David was in his last year of law school and he already had plenty of offers from firms in L.A. Blaine had told him he'd understand if he wanted to move out and get a normal job, but David had shook his head. 'As long as the other knuckleheads don't move out you won't get rid of me either. And if I ever open my own entertainment law firm, it won't hurt to have you as my client,' he'd replied.

"Grab me another one too," Nick said.

"Shouldn't you be the one bringing me drinks?" Blaine teased and threw a bottle at Nick.

"We're off duty," Jeff protested, but when he saw the smile on Blaine's face he cracked up. "You fucker. I'm too stoned for that kind of talk."

Jeff, Nick, David, Wes and Blaine had gone to Dalton together - a private high school in Westerville, Ohio. After their graduation, Wes and David had attended Stanford. Wes for business and David for pre law. Blaine, Nick and Jeff had followed them out West two year later, but neither of them went to college. Blaine, because he wanted to focus on his music and because he hadn't been offered financial aid for any of the schools he'd applied to. Nick and Jeff to piss off their super conservative families. Nick found a job as a valet, while Jeff taught himself how to surf before offering classes to wealthy tourists. While David and Wes lived in the dorms at Stanford, Nick, Jeff and Blaine slept on Cooper's couch and floor before renting a run down apartment in the Valley. Two years later, when Blaine landed the role of Parker Sinclair on Loser Like Me, they moved to Beverly Hills and Blaine hired Nick and Jeff as his drivers and personal assistants because he didn't want any strangers in his home. Wes and David joined them as well; Wes as Blaine's manager and David as his legal guide while he interned at a law firm and applied to law school.

Wes stepped into the smoked filled living room and threw his phone on the couch.

"So?" Blaine asked and passed him a beer.

"Gold Standard. They wanna send over Ari Gold tomorrow to pitch their agency," Wes said.

Blaine frowned. "That guy used to work for Terrance, right? You think his agency is any different?"

Wes shrugged. "They are the biggest agency in town and their client list is impressive. If they want you, they must think you really have potential. Other than that, I don't know. I guess we'll just have to listen to what he has to say."

Blaine nodded. "So how many potentials am I meeting tomorrow?"

"Five," Wes replied. "More asked for a meeting, but I narrowed it down to the top five.

Blaine groaned. But it had to be done. He turned to Wes.

"And you still support my decision to tell all of them and to hire the one who doesn't try to talk me out of coming out?"

Wes nodded. "You weren't happy the last few years and if coming out will make you happier then of course I support you. I was your friend long before I was your manager."

"And as my manager?"

"As your manager, I prefer a happy client who doesn't act out just to piss off his agent," Wes said diplomatically. Blaine knew his friend was also worried about Blaine's career, so he was grateful to still have his support.

"So we'll listen to what the suits - no offense," Cooper pointed at Wes and David, "have to say and then you pick the one you feel the most comfortable with. Preferably an agent who would sign me as well." All eyes went to Cooper who shrugged. "What? I'm in my mid thirties. I'm going to be hot enough for porn for another twenty years, but then I'd love to take on some more serious roles. Can't hurt to find out if my chances are better now than when I moved out here."

"Cooper Anderson thinking about the future. Didn't think I'd live to see that day," Blaine ribbed his older brother who retaliated by hitting Blaine in the face with a pillow.

* * *

The next morning, Blaine dragged himself out of bed shortly after nine. They were expecting the first prospective new agent at ten and Blaine thought it would be best if he didn't look like he'd smoked weed and drank alcohol for most of the previous night. Thanks to Terrance and his publicist, he already had a rep as womanizer and party boy. His new agent should see another side of him; the hard worker who wanted to get back to work as soon as possible. Blaine got into his shower and turned it to the coldest possible setting for thirty seconds to wake himself up properly. His two shower heads did their jobs expertly. After, he washed his hair. It was a relief to be done with LLM, because it meant no more hair gel. The producers had taken one look at his long and curly hair and had told him the role was his if he was willing to get his hair cut short because they envisioned a more clean cut look for Parker Sinclair. Clean cut had meant straightening his hair and cementing it to his head with what had felt like a ton of hair gel. Whoever his new agent was going to be, he or she better found him a role where he could wear his hair au naturel, Blaine mused as he ran a towel over his head. He wrapped another towel around his waist and stepped out into his bedroom. While he'd been in the shower, the housekeeper had been in. His bed was made and the heavy burgundy curtains were pulled aside. Even after five years of living in the house, the view from his balcony still took his breath away. They were high up in Beverly Hills and Blaine could see everything from Downtown L.A to the east and the pacific ocean to the west.

When Blaine had been fourteen years old, his father had left his mother and while he had agreed to keep paying for Dalton, he'd refused to give Pam, Blaine's mother, any support. Blaine had told his mom that he'd be okay with going back to public school so his mom could take the Dalton money. But Pam had refused. After an incident in junior high, Blaine's safety was more important to her than living in a big house. He was surprised that the press had never reported the incident after he became famous. Maybe Terrance had paid off the assholes he'd gone to school with. While at Dalton, he'd shared a small two bedroom apartment with his mom - Cooper had already moved out to L.A - and while there was always food on the table, he never could afford to join his classmates on expensive school trips. His friends, however, came from rich families and their form of rebellion was to spend their parents' money on their less fortunate classmates who'd often come to Dalton on scholarships. When Nick had bought him a new keyboard for his sixteenth birthday, he'd grudgingly accepted it because his mom couldn't afford a new one and his old one had died, but when Jeff tried to top Nick's gift with a car, Blaine had drawn a line. He hadn't minded taking the school bus on days his mom couldn't drop him off at Dalton. Now he owned three cars. A Jeep for when they went snowboarding at Lake Tahoe, a silver, Mercedes E class cabriolet for trips to the beach and a black BMW, with tinted windows for every day use. On a normal day, there were usually at least eight cars in his driveway. After his contract had been renegotiated at the end of season three and he had suddenly made a hundred thousand dollars per episode, he'd bought both Nick and Jeff their own sports cars. Their parents had cut them off financially when they hadn't gone to the colleges of their parents' choice and both had to wait till they were thirty to access their trust funds.

From his wardrobe, he selected a graphic tee and dark blue straight leg Diesel jeans. In his private life, comfort always came first. He wasn't like Wes and David who looked like fishes out of water if they didn't wear a suit. Blaine had worn a school uniform for four years at Dalton and for nearly five years on LLM. At home, he preferred t-shirts, shorts and flip flops and for meetings t-shirts, jeans and colorful Converse All Stars. For today's meeting, he selected the teal colored high tops Nick had found for him in the Valley. In the hallway, he ran into their housekeeper Juanita.

"Good morning," he greeted her with a smile.

Juanita wagged her pointer finger at him. "The living room was a mess again," she said crossly.

"I'm sorry," Blaine replied, looking guilty. Even though they were paying Juanita a handsome sum to keep the house in order, she acted more like a mother with children who constantly got into trouble. It had happened more than once that their parties had lasted until the next morning and had only ended when Juanita had sent them to bed. They hadn't dared to disobey her.

The living room was, of course, spotless. Ashtrays had been emptied, empty beer bottles thrown out and the windows opened to air out the room. Blaine found his friends in the kitchen. Cooper was nursing a cup of black coffee, his eyes fixed on Jeff's back, who was preparing scrambled eggs at the stove. David and Wes were reading the news on their Blackberries, while Nick had his head on the kitchen counter and was moaning about dying.

"Oh shut up!" Cooper groaned. "The tequila shots were your idea."

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Nick replied miserably. His face was extremely pale and he wobbled dangerously on his bar stool.

"You should go back to bed," Blaine suggested. "I don't need you for the first meeting."

"Thanks, man."

"I'll save you some," Jeff said, as he put a plate of steaming hot eggs in front of Blaine.

Slowly, after some coffee and Jeff's famous eggs, they started to feel human again. And just in time. Their first hopeful was a man in his late twenties called Adam Davies. He'd previously worked for Terrance, but Blaine decided not to hold it against him. They sat down in the living room and Adam took out his laptop.

"So let me tell you why Hammers and Rubey's is the agency for you," he started. Blaine stopped him immediately.

"Before you do, I'm going to tell you something and then I want you to tell me how you'd handle it as my agent."

"Okay." Adam leaned back looking intrigued.

"I'm gay," Blaine told him, "and I want to come out."

Surprised flickered over Adam's face. The disgust he felt for guys like Anderson, he managed to hide successfully. After all, if he could land the guy, his boss had to make him partner.

"As your agent, my advice would be don't. At least not any time soon. Young girls love you thanks to Loser Like Me and if they find out you really aren't available, they're going to move on to the next good looking young actor. You can't afford to lose the demographic that buys your merchandise and spent hundreds of dollars on ticket for the LLM in Concert Tours. Do a few movies first, build up a more adult fanbase and then reevaluate in a year or two. There's no rush, right? Or are you seeing someone who's pressuring you to come out?"

"No, no one's pressuring me. Anyway, thanks for coming, Adam," Blaine replied.

"But I haven't shown you the presentation yet," Adam sputtered indignantly.

"Let met guess," Wes cut in. "Adidas, Mercedes, Blaine Anderson. With our help, your name will be just as recognizable as those brands."

"Microsoft and McDonalds," Adam huffed and shoved his laptop back into his bag. He didn't shake anyone's hand before he left.

The next man was another young guy. His name was Josh Weinstein, no relations, and he told Blaine to wait a couple more years, so he could amass even more young female fans. "Chicks love the gays", he said on his way out.

After a brief lunch break, a new agent followed, but what she said was more of the same. Then it was finally time for their last meeting. The intercom buzzed at five on the dot. A high and nervous sounding voice spoke, when Blaine, who was closest, pressed the button.

"Um, hi, I'm Ari Gold's assistant. He asked me to meet him here."

"He isn't here yet, but drive on up and come in. The door's open." Blaine pressed the button that opened the gate at the end of his driveway. Then he jumped back on the couch. Having to listen to all those douchebags was exhausting.

A few moments later, there was a knock on the front door. "In here," Blaine called out, his eyes closed. He only opened them, when the visitor stopped moving. His jaw hit the ground. The guy in front of him was gorgeous. Sun kissed chestnut hair that was expertly coiffed, he was wearing a slim fitting light grey suit with a blue button down that brought out the color of his equally blue eyes. Compared to his broad shoulders, his waist seemed tiny and though Blaine was sprawled on the couch, he was pretty certain, the hottie was taller than him. He was exactly Blaine's type.

"Hi," he said. Quickly, he removed his feet from the couch and patted the spot next to him. "Sit down. I'm Blaine."

The young man approached, looking curiously at Blaine's entourage. "I should probably check on my boss. He should have arrived before me," he said.

Blaine hit him with his best show smile. "No rush," he told him. "He'll get here when he gets here. In the meantime, the two of us can talk. What's your name, by the way?"

"Kurt. Kurt Hummel."


	5. The Bait

**'THE BAIT'**

 **K** urt was going to kill Ari and probably Santana too. When she'd said that Blaine had a type, he hadn't thought they'd use him as bait. But before he actually sat down next to BLAINE ANDERSON, Kurt excused himself and called Ari from outside the front door. Ari was very apologetic, but stuck in a traffic jam on the 405 which would make him at least half an hour late. In the background, however, Kurt could hear the sounds of a sports bar. So if they weren't using him as bait, than why else this charade? And if he was bait, what outcome did Ari expect? That Blaine Anderson would take a liking to Kurt and would sign with Gold Standard so he could get with Ari's assistant? Well, on the off chance that Blaine Anderson could actually like a guy like him, Kurt wouldn't let himself get pimped out like that. He'd be polite to the star until Ari arrived, but nothing more. Before any of that could happen however, he had to stop blushing like a school girl in the actor's presence. Because the last thing he needed, was Blaine Anderson finding out that Kurt had a huge crush on him; a crush that had only gotten stronger since yesterday morning, when he'd discovered that they played for the same team.

Back inside, the actor had cleared some space for him on the couch. Under the watchful eyes of the star's entourage, Kurt sat down in the indicated spot. His hands were shaking, and Kurt wondered if they'd think he was super weird if he sat on them. He decided against it. To make matters worse, his palms were sweaty and when Blaine held out his hand to shake Kurt's, he had no choice but to wipe them on his pants.

"You look pretty young to be an assistant," a guy with bottle blond hair was the first to break the silence.

Kurt felt his face flush. What would they think of him if they found out this was only his second day as Ari's assistant?

"I'm nearly twenty-four," he said defensively, because he knew that Blaine and his friends weren't much older.

Blaine whistled through his teeth. "So you are pretty young for your job. Must mean you're very smart. I feel in good hands already," he winked at Kurt.

Kurt's cheeks heated up again. Was Blaine flirting with him? He reminded himself that it wouldn't matter. He was here as a representative of Gold Standard until his boss arrived.

"Just lucky," he mumbled.

"And modest too. I like you," Blaine added.

At this point, his face had to look like a tomato.

"Do you want me to tell you something about the agency while we wait for Mr. Gold," Kurt tried to change the subject. Even though, he'd spent most of his time there in the mail room, he knew plenty about the clients they represented.

"I'd rather just hang for now. We can talk business later," Blaine said. He opened a mini fridge that stood next to his end of the couch and pulled a bottle of Desperados from it. "Beer?" he asked Kurt, who shook his head.

"I'm driving," he reminded the actor. Sure, they were encouraged to drink with clients, but what if Ari needed Kurt to drive him home.

As if he'd known Kurt was thinking about him, his company smartphone vibrated in his bag, alerting him to a text from Ari. 'Still delayed. Keep Anderson company until I get there. Santana's picking up your car, so just enjoy yourself.' Kurt wondered how Ari or Santana had known that Blaine would offer him a drink.

"Nick can drive you home later," Blaine offered up his driver at the same time. "He had a bit too much yesterday and spent the whole morning telling us that he wouldn't drink today."

The guy in question pouted. "But I'm feeling better already. I'm sure Kurt wouldn't mind taking a cab."

Before Kurt could assure him, that yes he could definitely take a cab, another guy kicked Nick. "You're right. I'm still a bit hungover. I'd love to drive you home," he quickly corrected, rubbing his shin.

Kurt wondered what that was all about. Blaine was still smiling at him, and Kurt accepted the offered beer.

"To new friends," Blaine toasted him, his hazel eyes staring deeply into Kurt's. Kurt quickly repeated the toast. He wasn't so sure however, that Blaine was only interested in his friendship.

As if on cue, Blaine's entourage suddenly made their excuses.

"I, ah, forgot to pick up your laundry," the guy who had kicked Nick said, while the two young men in suits mumbled something about the stock market. Nick declared that wasn't feeling so hot all of a sudden and would lie down until Kurt required his service.

Suddenly, Kurt was alone with the actor. Who, if Kurt wasn't mistaken, was sitting much closer than when Kurt had first sat down.

"So tell me about yourself, Kurt. Where are you from originally? You don't sound like a native Californian."

"Why do you wanna know?" Kurt dared to ask. For a second, Blaine's wide smile disappeared, before he caught himself and replied nonchalantly.

"You seem like a nice and down to earth guy. You know the people you meet in this city, so it's refreshing to spend some time with someone who doesn't want anything from me."

"How do you know I don't want anything from you?" Kurt challenged the actor. "After all, I'm here because I work for an agency who wants to sign you."

Blaine shrugged. "If I like what your boss has to say I will, and if I don't I won't. You being here, doesn't change that."

Kurt's face was flaming at this point. "Excuse me?" he said, because he couldn't believe that Blaine had seen through Ari's plan so quickly.

"It's obvious that 'your boss' sent you because he thought I might 'like you.' What I'm curious about however, is how did he know? How did he know to send me a guy like you. Though I have to say that if he wanted me to believe the assistant part, he should have hired someone a little older. You are at least eighteen right?" Blaine asked, now only inches away. He leaned even closer and whispered into Kurt's ear. "You can tell your boss, I don't pay for sex and I don't let others pay for it either."

Kurt froze for a moment before he pushed himself off the couch and put some distance between Blaine and him.

"You think I'm a, I'm a prostitute," he stammered and hid his face behind his hands. He'd been humiliated plenty of times in his life, but he'd never been this embarrassed before.

"Have you ever thought about going into acting. You're really good," Blaine commented dryly. "But you can stop it now. Call your boss and tell him he can drive up now. I'll make sure he still pays you."

Kurt couldn't believe this was happening. He was wearing a three thousand dollar suit and not his tightest pair of skinny jeans he could only wear without underwear. His eyes blazing, he squared his shoulders and fixed the actor with a haughty expression.

"I don't know what company you normally keep, but I'm not a hooker. I'm Ari Gold's assistant. I will admit however, that you are probably right about the reason why he wanted me to be part of this meeting. He knows you're gay and apparently you have a type. I'm also pretty sure, that he didn't send me here to seduce you because he fired all his previous assistants for sleeping with clients." Alright, he was fifty per cent sure that Ari didn't expect him to seduce Blaine Anderson.

At least, the actor looked properly chastised. "You really work for the agency?" Kurt nodded. "So if I were the type to accept prostitutes as gifts and had come on to you, you would have…?"

"Probably have slapped you," Kurt finished for him.

Blaine laughed. "Well, then I'm glad I'm not into rent boys. Please sit back down."

Kurt checked his phone. No news from Ari. Until his boss showed up, Kurt had to stay. So he sat back down, but with plenty of space between him and the actor.

"Are you at least gay or did I get that wrong as well?" Blaine asked. "According to my friends, I have shitty gaydar."

Kurt laughed. "Your friends should meet mine. But yes I'm gay. That's actually why I got my job. My boss thinks it's less likely that his clients sleep with his assistants if he has gay assistants."

"That's only because there are barely any out gay actors. Otherwise, I'm sure you'd get lots of offers daily," Blaine winked.

Kurt blushed and looked away. Blaine frowned.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be hitting on you. I'm sure you have a boyfriend," he said while he busied himself with opening another beer.

Kurt was honestly confused. He didn't know whether he wanted Blaine to stop flirting with him or to continue. But even if he let Blaine continue, what would he stand to gain from it? The actor was still in the closet and Kurt refused to date anyone who wasn't out. And wasn't it pretty presumptuous anyway to assume that Blaine wanted to date him. The actor was probably just looking for his next one night stand, and he wouldn't find that with Kurt. In the end, he decided to just tell the truth and see how it played out until Ari arrived.

"I don't."

Blaine looked surprised. "How come?"

Kurt shrugged. "Guess I haven't met the right guy yet."

It was the truth. All the guys he'd met over the years had only been interested in one thing and when Kurt had refused to 'put out' after the third date, he'd been called a prude, frigid or worse, a cock tease. He'd had high hopes when he'd move from Ohio to California, but unfortunately college guys were the same everywhere. Nowadays, he was married to his job and even Santana had stopped trying to set him up. Not thinking about his relationship status had made his life much easier, though it was a lonely life.

"I'm sure you will," Blaine smiled at him. "In fact, do you want to have dinner this Friday? I now this cosy little restaurant in West Hollywood that's super discreet."

Kurt looked up in surprise. He hadn't expected that Blaine would ask him out so directly. With the way Blaine was looking at him, Kurt actually felt a bit bad for telling him no. The devil on his shoulder was also yelling at him that he was an idiot for saying no to a date with Blaine Anderson.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," he settled on.

"I see," Blaine replied. "Would your answer have been different if I was out?"

Kurt made sure his voice was steady before he answered. "No." But he was pretty sure Blaine could tell he was lying.

"It's okay. I understand. I think if I were in your position, I wouldn't want to date a closet case either," Blaine said and got off the couch. "I, ah, have to check something in the kitchen real quick."

While Blaine was gone, Kurt made a decision. He pulled a business card from his wallet and scribbled his private number onto the back. He couldn't give Blaine what he was looking for, but he could offer to be a friend, someone Blaine could talk to, someone who understood even though Blaine's situation was different than his own had been because Kurt wasn't famous.

When the actor returned, Kurt handed him the card. "I'm not looking for a relationship right now, but I could use another friend in the city," he said, making it sound like Blaine would be doing him a favor.

Blaine's thousand watt smile returned. "Well, I'd love to be your friend, Kurt Hummel."

The intercom buzzed. Ari had arrived and with him Santana to pick up Kurt's car. He took it as his cue to leave. They didn't need him to sell Gold Standard to Blaine. After all, the whole strategy had been Santana's idea.

While Ari drove up the hill, Blaine raised his bottle to another toast. This time, Kurt meant it when he repeated 'to new friendship'.


	6. The Plan

**'THE PLAN'**

 **B** laine liked Santana Lopez - Ari Gold's other assistant - even though he was pretty sure she was looking down on him. He was sad, however, that Kurt hadn't stayed for the meeting. Still, when Kurt had told his boss that he wasn't feeling well, Blaine had supported him and informed Ari that Kurt was looking a little pale.

"So I know that you know that I'm gay," Blaine opened with, after Kurt's car left the driveway. "What I'd like to know is how."

"I interned with your former publicist," Santana told him. Blaine nodded. That explained a lot.

"Then you probably also know that I want to come out. What's your thought on that?" he turned to Ari.

"Fine with me," the agent said nonchalantly. "I've had clients with worse secrets. This is 2009, I'd be a pretty shitty agent if I couldn't get you auditions because you're gay."

Blaine didn't hide his surprise very well. Sure, he'd assumed that Ari wasn't a homophobe thanks to what Kurt had told him, but that hadn't necessarily meant that he would also be in favor of Blaine coming out.

"I do however think, that we need a strategy first," Ari continued and Blaine thought, here it comes. Now he's going to tell me why I should wait. To his surprise, it was Santana who took over.

"What you have to avoid at all cost is people thinking you were trying to deceive them on purpose. Especially our own people can be vicious, you know the fraction that thinks it's okay to out people for the greater good. You need to make it a non issue."

"How do I do that?" Blaine asked. "Won't people say that if it wasn't an issue anymore than why didn't I come out sooner?"

Santana smiled. "You ever told anyone you're straight?" Blaine shook his head. "Then it's easy. You haven't talked about any relationships before, because you value your privacy. Your friends and co workers know and you didn't think it was anyone else's business. The press is going to ask you what changed. You're going to tell them some sob story about a young boy who was sad that there weren't more openly gay actors because that would really show the bullies at his school. He made you think about using your celebrity to help kids like that boy. And you remembered how much you would have liked a real life gay role model when you were a teenager."

Blaine was impressed by how well thought out Santana's plan was.

"I think you should be my publicist," he joked.

"You can have her in a year when I have to exchange my assistants for newer models," Ari said, his eyes clued to his phone.

"What if the press asks him about the pictures with the girls?" Wes interjected, who together with David had reappeared when Ari had arrived.

"You blame your former agent. He was the one who kept the 'gay pictures' of you out of the press and made sure you were constantly photographed with your female co-stars," Ari said, after putting his phone aside.

"You have to control the narrative," Santana added and Blaine nodded, because it made sense. This time, he needed to be in charge.

"So how do you think he should do it? Give an interview in 'Out" or something like that?" Wes turned to Santana. It was clear that this was her area of expertise.

"Well, actually," Santana shared a look with Ari, "we have a different idea. Like I said, I think your coming out should be very organic and a non issue. So, you'll just make sure that you and your special someone get seen around town. It will get people talking, someone will post something on one of the social media platforms and by the time you arrive at the Emmy's with your male date in a few months, no one will be surprised and a lot of people will question why they thought you were straight in the first place."

"There's only one problem," Blaine pointed out. "I don't have a special someone. The guys I've fooled around with were usually in the closet as well and the only guy I really liked, wouldn't date someone in the closet and later moved to Cleveland with his boyfriend."

Santana and Ari shared another look and somehow Blaine knew, he wouldn't like their plan.

"You liked Kurt, right?" Ari asked and Blaine nodded cautiously. "Good, because we thought the two of you would make a good looking couple."

Blaine snorted. Santana looked offended and Ari confused. Wes and David were looking at him like he lost his mind.

"I thought you thought he was hot," David said and Blaine nodded.

"I did, but then I asked him out and he shot me down. Told me we should be friends in case I needed someone to talk."

"Then take him up on the offer, but make sure you meet in very public places and that it at least looks like you're dating," Ari said.

Blaine shook his head. "I'm not going to deceive him like that. If I do, he'll never give me a shot. No, if you want him to be my pretend boyfriend, you have to convince him to do it."

"We could hire someone to play the part," Ari mused. "But I rather use someone I know is loyal and won't sell out the story to the highest bidder. So Santana, you seem to know him pretty well. What does Kurt want? How do I get him to do this?"

Santana smiled. Blaine thought she looked like a shark who had just smelled blood.


	7. The Deal

**'THE DEAL'**

 **T** he next morning, Kurt was invited to take a seat in Ari's office. Santana gave him a thumbs up as he passed her, which was weird to say the least. The door closed behind him and Kurt followed his boss to the plush, burgundy couch.

"Let me tell you about our meeting with Blaine Anderson." Ari recounted what had happened the previous evening after Kurt had left.

"Absolutely not," Kurt said, after hearing Ari's proposition. "I'm not going to come out to the whole country for a guy I'm not really involved with. Sure, I like to read People Magazine, but I don't want to end up in it. Not for dating a celebrity."

Ari smiled triumphantly. "Because you want to make it on your own, right?"

Kurt didn't like the way Ari was looking at him. Like he knew something that would make Kurt change his mind about pretend dating Blaine Anderson.

"Santana told me you wrote this amazing screen play," Ari let the cat out of the bag. "But you're having a little trouble getting someone important to read it."

"Everyone in L.A has a screen play," Kurt huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. 'I will not be bought, I have integrity,' he told himself.

"But not everyone works for me," Ari reminded him. "And if I tell Dana Gordon that I found her the next Slumdog Millionaire she's going to buy it before anyone else can."

Kurt knew that this scenario would be a dream come true. Because like the rest of his former classmates, he was also working as an assistant to meet people who could help him get his screen plays produced. Without Blaine Anderson, if he was lucky, Ari would maybe read one of his scripts in a year or two and depending on whether he saw a role for one of his clients in it, would either bury it in his desk drawer or sell it together with an actor. Kurt silently repeated his mantra.

"The Emmys are in six months," Ari continued unperturbed. "And here's the deal: For the next six month, you publicly date Blaine Anderson. Flirt with him, laugh at his jokes and hold his hand. Nothing more. If someone asks you about it, you don't talk about your private life. You don't give them your name. Let the press speculate about you but with only your face, they'll lose interest soon enough. The press' not important here; it's his fans who matter. They need to get used to seeing him out with another guy. Then, in six months, he takes you to the Emmys as his date to confirm the speculations. Meanwhile, I get him new job and once the focus shifts to that you can quietly break up. Maybe I'll find him something that films in Australia. You can blame the distance. Worked for me when my daughter was dating some creepy child actor."

"And when the six months are over?" Kurt caught himself asking.

"I'm going to read your script and if it's any good, I'll make sure the right people get it." He paused for a moment. "There wouldn't per chance be a suitable role for Anderson?"

"Hm," Kurt deliberated. "He wasn't who I had in mind when I wrote it, but I wrote the first draft when I was still in high school and didn't know Blaine Anderson. If he can pass as eighteen, why not."

"Great so we have a deal," Ari smiled, showing all of his teeth. "You make sure his coming out goes smoothly, so he owes me forever and I'll make sure your script gets produced."

Kurt hesitated to shake the proffered hand. Was he really going to sell his soul for a chance to get his screen play produced? But it was his baby; written during his darkest times back in Ohio, when vomiting his feelings out onto the page was the only thing that kept him from snapping. And now that Ari had mentioned it, he could imagine Blaine in the title role, might have even envisioned him had he known him six years ago.

"And Blaine's okay with this?" Kurt asked. He needed to know that Blaine knew that this would only been an arrangement, that they weren't actually dating. Kurt would make sure that Blaine knew his offer to be friends stood.

"Said he's in if we can convince you to play along. Refused to be part of any scheme that kept you in the dark about it," Ari confessed. Kurt wasn't surprised to hear that Ari had tried to use him again without his knowledge or consent. The agent wouldn't be where he was today if he hadn't been a ruthless and conniving asshole.

Kurt weighed the pros and cons. Cons: He'd end up in the press for dating a celebrity. His private life wouldn't be private anymore. At the moment, everyone wanted a piece of Blaine Anderson, and if Kurt were at his side, he probably would be hassled by Blaine's fans and the paparazzi. He'd probably get a lot of hate too; be it from disappointed fan girls or genuinely homophobic douche bags. He'd have to watch how he acted in public. And he'd probably be remembered as the guy who dumped Blaine Anderson after he came out for him. At least, that's what it would look like to him. And the pros: Ari would help him start his writing career much sooner than Kurt had hoped for. He'd probably get to meet a lot of interesting people through Blaine. Fancy restaurants and movie premieres. Sure, he'd experience those things with Ari as well, but only as the assistant standing in the back. Kurt liked to think that he wasn't in Hollywood for materialistic reasons, but he'd be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the lifestyle that came with knowing the right people and working for companies like Gold Standard. And he'd get to spend more time with Blaine. Kurt shook his head. Spending time with Blaine shouldn't be on the pro side of the column. After all, he couldn't imagine actually dating Blaine. Mostly, because the actor would surely get bored with his inexperience quickly and dump him for someone more willing to put out. No, it was better to just stay friends than potentially falling in love and getting his heart broken when the relationship inevitably didn't work out.

The pros didn't outweigh the cons. Kurt knew the sensible thing to say was 'thanks for the offer, but no, I'll find my own way'. But Kurt wasn't always sensible. And he was ambitious. He could take being called a gold digger, as long as he got a chance to prove that he wasn't talentless. That he didn't date Blaine to get famous. Sure, he'd profit from the relationship, but ideally, he'd be able to show anyone who'd make fun of him that he and Blaine both got something out of their relationship.

His resolve weakened and his mantra forgotten, he reached out and shook Ari's hand. "I hope I won't regret this."

Ari grinned. "Trust me. Once we both get rich from this little deal, you're going to thank me for casting you in the role of fake boyfriend."

Well, Kurt wasn't in it for the money. But everyone knew that you should trust Ari's gut.

* * *

Once Kurt agreed to the plan, Ari got the ball rolling immediately. While Kurt looked through the emails in his inbox, his boss called Wes Montgomery, Blaine's manager, to set up their first get together. Kurt had decided not to tell Ari that he'd given Blaine his phone number, because he didn't want him to know that he'd have agreed to a friendly meeting with the actor even without the deal.

"I hope you won't forget about me when you're rich and famous and married to Anderson," Santana told him, her eyes clued to her own computer screen.

"Haha, very funny," Kurt replied dryly. "You know I'm not really going to date him."

"And why not?" Santana challenged him. "I know you have a huge crush on him and he obviously likes you to."

"He wants to fuck me, not date me," Kurt stated bluntly. "You know I don't do that."

"Who says he doesn't want both?"

"Because he's never dated anyone. Ari told me I'm basically his only option because he's only screwed around with guys and never had a relationship with any of them."

"Maybe, he hasn't met the right guy yet," Santana said, and Kurt had to admit it was a possibility because he'd told Blaine the exact same thing to explain why he was single. But still, they were too different. Blaine was a famous actor with millions of fans around the globe. Once out, he'd probably date one of his peers and not some unknown . Why would he want to date someone like Kurt, who was just an assistant who aspired to be a screen writer? There were hundreds of guys just like him in L.A. He wasn't anyone special. No, it was better to keep his distance, so he wouldn't get his heart broken.

"I'm sure he will, once he's out," Kurt replied before he quickly changed the subject. "How's Lucy doing? It's been too long since we all got together."

Now Santana was the one on the defense. "She's fine," she said dismissively. "She's in New York for a conference. Never knew lawyers had to go to so many conferences when we started dating."

Kurt didn't ask whether Santana thought her girlfriend was cheating on her. Her thoughts on the matter came across loud and clear in her tone of voice. He hoped she was wrong, because Santana had been cheated on by every girl she'd dated so far. Which was funny in a way, because a lot of people assumed Santana was the cheater, because she was a flirt.

Before Kurt could reply, Ari knocked on the class door separating his office from Kurt and Santana's desks and motioned for Kurt to come join him.

"Let's have drinks this weekend," he told his friend before he walked into Ari's office and took a seat in front of his desk.

His boss handed him a piece of paper. On it, Ari had written in his messy scrawl, '8 pm, Spago'.

"The company will pick up the bill,"Ari informed him. "I've reserved a table in the back to make the whole thing look more intimate. Saturday night, Blaine will throw a party for his former cast mates and the crew. His excuse is that he had to miss the wrap party because he was sick and wants a chance to properly say goodbye to everyone he worked with for the past five years. He's going to introduce you as his boyfriend, so make sure you don't look too out of place. You want people to believe that you've run in his circle for a while now."

Kurt nodded and took the piece of paper. Suddenly his palms were sweaty and his hands shook slightly. Maybe, because now it was real. It was happening.

"So, got a hot date tonight?" Santana changed the topic back to their original subject, when Kurt sank back into his office chair.

Kurt paled. "What am I going to wear? He's taking me to Spago."

Santana examined her nails. "What are you freaking out about? You never looked too shabby when we were in college."

"But I buy second hand," Kurt exclaimed, mentally going through his wardrobe. He had nothing to wear.

Santana looked up with a grin on her face. "You should tell Ari. Tell him you can't meet Blaine tonight, because you don't have anything to wear to a place like Spago. I'm sure he'll send you shopping."

Kurt narrowed his eyes. "Why are you being so helpful. What's in it for you?"

Santana gave him her best 'who, me' impression but Kurt didn't buy it for one second.

"Fine," Santana sighed. "I may or may not have a little side deal with Anderson."

Kurt raised his eyebrow in question.

"If my plan works, he'll convince his publicist to give me a job," Santana admitted.

Kurt didn't fault her for trying to get something out of Blaine's situation as well. He knew that she'd rather work for a PR firm, but after graduation she'd only been offered more unpaid internships and she couldn't afford to work for free. So she'd taken a job at Gold Standard in the hopes that one day it would help her start the career she was really interested in.

* * *

Santana had been right. When Kurt had told Ari of his plight, his boss had handed him a company credit card and had sent him over to Rodeo Drive to pick an outfit for his date. He'd been instructed to go to Dolce & Gabana and talk to Linda. Kurt was quite familiar with Rodeo Drive, but only from a window shopping perspective. He had a subscription to Vogue so he always knew what was en vogue and then tried to find articles of clothing that matched in thrift stores and the cheaper chains. Once a year, usually after Christmas, he went to the Beverly Center for their winter sale and bought himself one designer piece. Kurt loved clothes and he knew that if he had the money he'd be on a first name basis with the sales people of Rodeo Drive as well.

Linda greeted him with a smile on her face. She was a pretty brunette who looked like she should wear clothes for a living, not sell them. Apparently, Santana had called and informed her about Kurt's impending arrival.

"So, I understand you have a date tonight at Spago. Lucky…," she looked at him questioningly. Kurt thought she probably didn't want to assume.

"Guy," he finished for her.

"Lucky guy," she winked. "You got an idea what he's going to wear?"

Kurt thought back to all the pictures he'd seen of Blaine during nightly outings. "I think he prefers casual clothes. Mostly jeans and t-shirts."

"Hm," Linda said. "Am I right to assume that he's well known? Don't think he'd get into Spago in jeans and t-shirts otherwise."

Kurt nodded. He didn't give her a name though. After all, Blaine for now, was still in the closet.

"Then I think a suit would be too dressy for you. How about a pair of fitted black jeans, twenties style black leather shoes with white accents, and a dark blue button down. I'd finish it with this vest."

Linda showed him a gorgeous silver vest that shimmered in the sunlight coming in through the large windows.

"Sounds great," he told her. He also decided that it would probably be best not the check the price tags on the clothes she handed him.

* * *

At a quarter to eight, Kurt paid the cab in front of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's Beverly Hills restaurant. He'd been instructed not to drive himself so he could have a few drinks with Blaine. Ari had also told him that he could arrive late at work the next day. Kurt had no plans though, to spend more than a couple of hours with the actor. The maitre d' led him through the modern restaurant to a table in the back. To his surprise, Blaine was already waiting for him.

"Kurt, it's really nice to see you again," Blaine greeted him.

"It's nice to see you again too," Kurt replied, because if he was honest with himself, it really was. He took a seat opposite the actor.

"Do you have any preference for wine or do you want to pick out the food first and order whatever goes with it?" Blaine asked, when the wine waiter approached them.

"Maybe just some water for now and then order drinks with our food," Kurt replied. He'd barely eaten all day and didn't think it was a smart idea to start drinking on an empty stomach.

Blaine took the wine menu from the waiter and told him their order.

"So," Blaine smirked. "With your boss picking up the bill, how expensive do you want to make this?"

Kurt knew that Ari would do anything to keep a client happy. But as his employee he should also make sure Ari was happy with him. A lot depended on this going well, after all.

"Not very," he admitted. "Because as you said, he's still my boss."

Blaine nodded and picked up his menu. After perusing it for a moment he suggested a dish. "How about we order the côte de boeuf for two with Armagnac peppercorn sauce. Unless you are a vegetarian."

Kurt shook his head. "Sounds good."

He was lying through his teeth. Even though his French wasn't too shabby for someone public school educated in Ohio, he had no idea what the order meant. But even if he didn't like it, Ari would be paying for his meal. A waiter brought a bottle of Evian and Blaine told him they were ready to order. After the waiter had left, Blaine leaned closer.

"I've never done this before," the actor admitted.

"Had dinner?" Kurt joked.

"Not like this. Not with another guy in public. At least not one who wasn't working for me" Blaine explained.

Kurt studied him for a moment. "Were you out in high school?" he asked.

"Everyone in my choir group knew, and maybe some other guys at school suspected, but I never officially came out. The school had this whole 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. It did have a strict no tolerance bullying policy, but that mostly worked because you didn't talk about private stuff like politics, religion, race or your sexual orientation."

"You went to Dalton, right?" Kurt remembered an article about Blaine. "My choir group nearly competed against your choir once, but then our funding was cut and we couldn't raise the necessary funds ourselves. What was it called again. The Canaries?"

"The Warblers," Blaine corrected him. "It's weird to think that we could have met in High School."

"You probably wouldn't have paid me any attention. I was only a sophomore when you graduated."

"Seems unfair that you know so much more about me than I do about you," Blaine teased him. "We have to rectify that."

"I don't know everything about you," Kurt cheeks flushed. "I only read that one article where you talked about growing up in Ohio because I'm from Ohio as well," he said defensively. After all, he didn't want Blaine to think that he was hanging out with a total fanboy. Come to think of it, he should probably unfollow him on Twitter on the off chance that Blaine checked who was following him.

"It's okay," Blaine said. "Just because I'm a quote unquote celebrity doesn't mean that I'm not a fan of other celebrities. I had this really unhealthy obsession with Jack Gyllenhaal a few years ago when he was in Brokeback Mountain and when I met him at an event I nearly peed my pants."

Kurt laughed. It was nice to hear that Blaine had celebrity crushes too. The wine waiter returned and Blaine ordered a bottle of a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. His hand, which lay right next to Kurt's on the table, twitched, but he left it where it was. After all, they weren't even touching. Kurt remembered his first date with a boy and how nerve wrecking it had been to display any affection in public. And he'd been a nobody. Blaine on the other hand. Kurt could feel their neighbors' eyes on them. Kurt didn't recognized the older couple, but they had recognized Blaine. He leaned forward in his seat, so he could whisper to Blaine.

"You have to ignore them. There's nothing wrong with a guy going out to dinner with another guy," he reminded the actor.

"You're right," Blaine agreed. "And if this was a real date, I would even hold your hand."

So they were talking about it. "Blaine, I…" Kurt started, but Blaine cut him off.

"No, don't. I'm sorry. Forget I said anything. Just tell me more about yourself. If people are going to believe you are my boyfriend, I need to know more than your name, job and where you are from."

Kurt couldn't argue with Blaine's reasoning. "What do you want to know?"

"Just the easy stuff. Your family, favorite movie and TV shows, where you went to college, stuff I'd know if we were in a relationship."

Kurt laughed dryly. "The easy stuff, huh? Fine, I'll give it my best. My birthday is on May 27. I'm going to be twenty-four. When I was seven my mom got diagnosed with a brain tumor. I barely went to school that year and in the end I had to repeat the second grade. She died when I was eight. When I was seventeen, my dad remarried. Her name's Carole and she's a lovely woman. She'll never replace my mom, but I love her a lot. She had a son my age, but he died shortly after we graduated from high school. I had plans to move to New York with a friend after graduation, but after Finn, that was his name, died, I decided to go to Ohio State instead to be closer to my family. I transferred to UCLA after my sophomore year and lived here since." Kurt didn't tell him the reason behind his transfer.

Blaine starred at him wide-eyed. "If I'd known this would be your answer, I'd have asked you a different question.

"It's okay. I've come to terms with everything that's happened. That doesn't make it hurt any less, but I'm okay with talking about it. How about your family?" he changed the subject. He already knew a lot about Blaine, but you never knew how much truth there was in articles about celebrities.

"Um, okay. I have an older brother Cooper, he's ten years older than me and also an actor. Maybe you've seen his Free credit rating today dot comcommercials."

"Really?" Kurt exclaimed. "How did I not know that? The jingle was my ringtone back in high school. Don't judge me," he added when he saw the look on Blaine's face following his revelation.

"I'm not," Blaine promised. "I just thought that you've probably never watched straight porn."

"What?" Kurt, who'd just taken a sip of water, nearly spit it across the table.

"Nothing,"Blaine waved him off. "I'll tell you another time. This isn't first date material."

"Okay," Kurt replied, but he'd be lying if he said he could follow Blaine's train of thoughts.

"My parents split when I was fourteen," the actor continued. "My mom promised it had nothing to do with me, but my dad asked her for a divorce a couple of weeks after I'd come out to them. He wasn't happy. Said that in his business he couldn't afford a gay son. My dad works as a financial advisor for a republican senator."

"Yikes," Kurt said. "How's your relationship now?"

"Nonexistent," Blaine revealed. "He paid for Dalton until my graduation mainly because in his circles it looked good when your kids went to private school. His secretary sends me a card for my birthdays, but she's not as good at faking his signature as she thinks. I know it's her that signs them."

"And your brother?"

"My dad cut him off when he dropped out of college to pursue a pipe dream. He contacts Cooper from time to time, but Cooper refuses to take his calls out of loyalty to me. At least that's what he says. But I know he doesn't take them because our father is a grade A asshole."

"I'm sorry?" Kurt asked.

Blaine shook his head. "Don't be sorry. It brought me and my mom a lot closer. I'm not sure we'd have the kind of relationship we have now if my dad hadn't bailed on us. And that's all about my family. My favorite movie changes every other week, my guilty pleasure are trashy reality shows and while I love to read, I never read a book twice. Too many good books out there to waste my time on re-reading."

"Not even Harry Potter?" Kurt teased him. "I've heard you say that you are a huge Harry Potter nerd."

"Harry Potter doesn't count. One always has to make time for HP," Blaine said earnestly.

"Did you always want to be an actor?" Kurt changed the subject again, just as their food arrived. He cut into his meat while he waited for Blaine's answer. Tender and the right amount of spicy. It was delicious. He nearly moaned.

"Music was my first love. I never saw myself as a rock star, more as a singer songwriter. When I moved out here, it was to make music not to get discovered as an actor. But I fell in love with acting while I was on Loser. Probably because I got to sing as well as act. And now, I wouldn't want to give up either. How about you, did you always want to be an agent? Is that something kids aspire to?"

Kurt snorted before he remembered where he was. "Gosh no. I don't want to be an agent at all. I majored in screen writing. But it's pretty impossible to get a job as a writer straight out of college. So for now, I work for Ari. I get to meet a lot of important people, and once I've paid my dues, he's going to put me in touch with the people who can give me a writing job."

"Cool. You've written anything you'd let me read? I know a lot of people too," Blaine said, but Kurt shook his head.

"Nothing that's ready for public consumption," he lied. "But I spend a lot of my free time writing, and hopefully I'll have written a few good spec scripts by the time Ari's putting me in touch with people."

"Best of luck. And like I said, if you need any help, I know producers."

For the next few minutes, they both focused on their meal. The wine, like the beef, was excellent and Kurt didn't protest when their waiter refilled his glass.

"So what's our back story?" he broke the comfortable silence. "Ari told me you want to introduce me at a party this weekend."

"You're right, we should probably get our facts straight," Blaine agreed. "How long do you think we've been dating?"

Kurt deliberated for a moment. "It's probably still pretty new. That would explain why you haven't mentioned me before. So, I don't know, a couple of weeks," he suggested and Blaine nodded.

"How about we met in Ohio? Everyone knows I always spend the holidays in Ohio with Cooper and my mom. Were you there as well?" Kurt nodded. "Okay, where could we have met?"

"My dad owns a car repair shop where I help out when I'm back home. Maybe you had car trouble and I'm the one my dad sent out to look at it. We started talking, discovered that I live in L.A too, and you asked me out for coffee to say thank you for the help. I argued that you didn't have to buy me coffee because you were paying for the service anyway, but you insisted and I agreed to have coffee with you at your mom's place because you don't like to go out in Ohio, because the fans there are much more, let's say enthusiastic than the ones here," Kurt spun his tale.

"I like it," Blaine smiled. "Because the only ones who could verify the story are our families, and at least my family would never talk to the press."

Kurt tried to envision his dad give an interview. He laughed. "Yeah, mine neither, though I'm certain that Carole would love to gossip about it in her bookclub if I was dating someone famous." He sobered. "Come to think of it, I should probably tell them about you before they hear it from someone else?"

"Everything?" Blaine asked. He looked worried, so Kurt shook his head.

"No, this is between me, you, Ari, Santana and your entourage. No one else has to know this isn't real."

"I agree. So I should tell my mom too. She'll probably insist that I bring you over the next time I'm in Ohio."

"My dad too. He's always badgering me about my lack of relationships. Which is funny, because back in high school he was all like, 'I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about boys' and now he's all 'when are you finally going to bring a boy home'."

"My mom's the same," Blaine smiled.

Why was he fighting this again? Kurt asked himself. Because it wouldn't last, he reminded his heart. It's better to just be friends. A waiter cleared their now empty plates.

"Dessert?" Blaine asked.

Kurt thought that he shouldn't. But he and Blaine still had things to discuss before the party, so he agreed. They ordered panna cotta and creme brûlée to share. After the waiter had taken their order, they continued working on their backstory.

"Alright, so we met over Christmas, had coffee, had a good time, exchanged phone numbers and you told me you'd call once you're back in L.A. I didn't think you would, because you're a famous actor and I was working in the mail room of a talent agency. To my surprise you did and we had dinner at your house. I met your friends," Kurt said.

"You were the first guy I liked enough to introduce to my friends, so I planned to take you with me to my wrap party. But I got sick and had to miss it and that's why I'm throwing this party," Blaine took over. "In the meantime, you got promoted at 'Gold Standard', I was looking for a new agent and so you set up a meeting with your boss. I signed with him, because now I can see you even more than before."

"It's a good story," Kurt said. "And it totally could have happened had you had car trouble in the Lima area."

Their desserts arrived and they stuffed their faces with creamy goodness. Afterwards, when Kurt had signaled the waiter that they wanted to pay, Blaine pulled out his phone and called Jeff.

"Hey Jeff, can you pick me and Kurt up in fifteen. He'll tell you where to go."

Kurt looked at Blaine in surprise. "You don't have to drive me home. I could have taken a cab."

"That would be a waste of money when I have a driver," Blaine argued and Kurt had to agree that Blaine was right. "And what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't take you home after a date?" he added with a wink.

"A twenty-first century one," Kurt deadpanned.

After paying the check, also with Ari's black AmEx, Kurt looked at Blaine questioningly.

"How do you want to do this. Do you want to draw attention to us when we walk out?"

Blaine eyed the other diners before he shook his head.

"I think Santana is right. I shouldn't go public before I've told the people I've worked with for the past five years."

"Whatever you want," Kurt smiled easily.

They walked out into the pleasantly warm night air together, chatting amicably about the delicious meal they had. Kurt was the first to spot the lone paparazzo, camped out opposite the restaurant. The man was looking at his phone though, and before he could look up and discover Blaine, Jeff pulled up along the curb. Blaine opened the door for him and Kurt climbed into the back of the expensive looking black BMW.

"Where to?" Jeff asked as he pulled back out into the traffic that never seemed to cease in L.A no matter what time you were driving through the city.

"41 Landfall Avenue," Kurt told him and leaned back into the comfortable leather seats. He liked his car, because he'd bought it with his own money after getting the job at Gold Standard, but compared to Blaine's luxury ride, it was a piece of crap. He'd sold the car his dad had given him for his sixteenth birthday because it just needed too much gas.

"Ey, ey captain," Jeff saluted him and turned right onto Wilshire Blvd.

"So, what time should I arrive at your party?" Kurt turned to Blaine.

"I'd like you to be there before everyone else arrives, so maybe around seven," the actor suggested. "If that's okay with you."

Kurt nodded. "I just hope I won't embarrass myself in front of your friends. It's possible that I'm a huge fan of Loser Like Me," he admitted.

"I won't hold it against you," Blaine teased him. "And I'm not worried. You must have met tons of famous people working for Gold Standard."

"Actually, you are the first," Kurt confessed. "When we met, it was only my second day working as Ari's assistant."

Blaine looked at him in surprise. "Well, then I'm honored," he joked. "But still, you'll be fine. You handled yourself great with me and Santana told me you are a fan."

Kurt groaned. He was going to kill Santana the next time he saw her. Ari would survive having to pick another assistant so soon after firing his last batch.

"You don't have to be embarrassed about that," Blaine assured him. "I told you, I'm a fan of a lot of actors and musicians as well. I'm flattered."

"Still, she shouldn't have told you. Not when I was trying to play it cool."

"I thought, you were a prostitute. I think that's way more embarrassing."

"You're right," Kurt agreed. "What you did was way worse," he teased Blaine, who pouted.

"Hey, I apologized for that."

The car stopped in front of the apartment complex Kurt lived in. It didn't feel like fifteen minutes had passed. Blaine looked out of the window and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You live in a frat house?" he asked in disbelief.

Kurt snorted. "As if. Can you imagine me in a fraternity?"

Jeff turned around. "I've been to some frat parties, so no. You should take this as a compliment though."

"Then why'd you go, if you don't like the people?" Kurt wondered.

"Hot chicks, man," Jeff replied, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. "College girls are the best. One nearly convinced me to give school a try after all."

"Got it," Kurt nodded. "Well, that's me," he turned to Blaine and pointed at the apartment complex on the other side of the street. "I'll see you Saturday at seven."

"Looking forward to it. Though I'm also kinda scared shitless," Blaine admitted.

"If those people really are your friends, your sexuality won't matter. And those who don't accept it, well, take it from me, those are the kind of people you don't need in your life anyway," Kurt assured the actor.

"True," Blaine agreed. "I'll see you Saturday."

They didn't hug or anything. Kurt was glad, because even after the evening they'd spent together, they didn't really know each other yet. And he wasn't a hugger. The only people who were allowed to touch him where his dad, Carole, Santana and his friend Mercedes, who he'd also gone to high school with. He put telling her about Blaine on his mental to do list, as she was living in L.A as well, trying to make it as a singer. She would definitely be pissed if she found out from the news.

'Drinks tomorrow night?' he texted her, after closing his front door with his foot and falling onto the couch. Fortunately, the living room was empty, his room mates either out partying or still at work.

I have big news - Kurt

Bigger than the new job? Now I'm definitely interested - Mercedes

Mercedes texted back immediately, and Kurt could just imagine her poking her boyfriend Sam and trying to get him to speculate with her.

See you tomorrow then? - Kurt

Telling Mercedes would be a good test drive before he called his dad and Carole about his 'new relationship'. If he could lie to one of his best friends, he'd be able to do it to his dad too. Not that that was something to be proud of. But as long as he wasn't hurting anyone with his lies. And it was just a little white lie. Why would anyone get hurt?


	8. The Party

**'THE PARTY'**

" **A** lright, spill," Mercedes demanded after they had sat down on the patio of their favorite West Hollywood bar. She'd sent her boyfriend Sam, an underwear model and voice actor, to the bar to get their drinks and was now starring at Kurt intently. Mercedes had been his friend since his freshman year of high school. They'd sat next to each other in homeroom and had soon discovered their mutual admiration of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. It hadn't taken them long to become BFFs after and Mercedes had been the only person he'd come out to apart from his dad before he'd been outed. She had big goals herself, dreaming of winning a grammy before she was twenty - five. Kurt thought she had a fantastical voice but his friend had already unsuccessfully auditioned for American Idol twice, where she'd been told that she didn't have the looks of a pop star and had been advised to lose weight before she tried again. Kurt thought they were crazy to reject her, because Mercedes was amazing just the way she was.

"So, I'm seeing someone and he's kinda famous," he confessed. The understatement of the century.

"No way!" Mercedes gasped. "Who is it? Is it someone I know?"

Kurt nodded and leaned closer to his best friend. "Pinky swear that you won't tell anyone? He's not really out yet." When Mercedes nodded eagerly, Kurt made sure that no one was listening to their conversation and that Sam was still busy at the bar. "It's Blaine Anderson."

"No way!" Mercedes repeated loudly, causing the couple at the table next to theirs to turn around and stare at her. Kurt shushed her. 'Sorry, sorry," Mercedes apologized. "But you're not messing with me?" Kurt shook his head. "Blaine Anderson is gay and you are dating him?" Kurt nodded, telling himself that her disbelief didn't mean she thought he wasn't good enough for someone like Blaine. He would have reacted the same way, had she told him she was dating a famous musician. "How the hell did you even meet him?"

This must really have come as a shock to her, because Mercedes rarely cursed.

"Funny story, we met in Ohio during break," Kurt told her the story he and Blaine had agreed on. "His car broke down and I was the one to look at it."

Mercedes stared at him in disbelief. "Hell to the no, Kurt Hummel. You did not seriously meet a celebrity over Christmas and are telling me about this in March."

Kurt winced. Yep, he'd known she'd be mad. "I sort of forgot. I mean, I never thought he'd actually call me when I gave him my number and then I kinda wanted to see how it went first. You know I've never really dated anyone before."

Mercedes' expression softened. "I get it. I didn't tell anyone about Sam either when we started dating because I didn't want to jinx it. I mean look at me, why would a guy like him, like a girl like me?"

"Because you are fabulous," Sam joined them. "What did I miss?" the blond asked and took the chair on Mercedes' other side after putting their drinks in front of them. "What's Kurt's big news?"

Kurt eyed Sam. A lot of people thought he wasn't very smart and only interested in his looks, but after knowing him for nearly two years, Kurt knew Mercedes' boyfriend was trustworthy. Also, just because he was lying to everyone, didn't mean that he should force Mercedes to do the same.

"I have a new boyfriend. Mercedes was just freaking out because he's on TV," he explained, trying to play it cool.

"Hey, I'm on TV and you don't freak out about that," Sam protested.

"You voice a crab on a TV show for toddlers, honey. It's not the same," Mercedes told him and Sam pouted.

"My junk was on a bus once," he added.

"Kurt's guy is on billboards," Mercedes waved him off. "Doesn't make me love you any less," she placated Sam and drop a kiss on his lips. Kurt made gaging noises to show her what he thought of their cutsey behavior.

"So, who is it?" Sam turned to Kurt.

"Blaine Anderson," Kurt said.

"No way!" Sam echoed Mercedes. "He's totally awesome. I saw him in that Star Wars musical at the Hollywood Bowl last summer. He was such a cool Luke Skywalker. When can I meet him?"

"I think Sam has a bigger crush on the guy than you had," Mercedes said dryly.

"I don't have a crush," Sam corrected her. "I just appreciate his awesomeness. Didn't you see that interview where he admitted that he wrote Harry Potter fan fiction in high school."

Kurt acted surprised because not even Mercedes needed to know that he'd read all interviews Blaine had given so far and had tried to figure out which Harry/Draco stories could have been written by the actor. The teasing would be endless, especially now that he was 'dating' his crush.

"I don't know," he returned to Sam's question. " He's introducing me to a couple of work friends this weekend at a party, but I'll see if he's open to a double date any time soon." Blaine would understand that if Kurt had to lie to his friends, they had to act like an actual couple.

"Awesome," Sam fist bumped the air, causing the couple to turn toward them again.

"And don't forget to tell me everything about the party," Mercedes added before she picked up her glass of white wine and bumped it against Kurt's. "To your new beau," she toasted him. Kurt joined in, because, well, it would have looked weird if he hadn't.

* * *

All of a sudden, it was Saturday. At least, that's what it felt like to Blaine. Kurt would arrive at seven, while the first guests should get to his place around eight. That left him and his friends six hours to get the house ready for the party. He'd already sent Jeff and Nick out to get booze and snacks, but it was such a nice day in mid March, that he decided it was time to fire up the grill again. At least, it would keep his hands busy, which hadn't stopped shaking all day.

"Dude, stop freaking out. I'm sure they're going to like the guy. Though I'm still pissed you didn't introduce me before. I'm your brother. How did I not know you've been banging the same guy for three months?" Cooper looked up from where he was lying on a lounge chair next to the pool.

They had decided not to tell Cooper about the deal. The fewer people who knew about it, the better had been the consensus between him and Ari. Wes, David, Nick and Jeff worked with him daily and they wouldn't have believed him, had he told them he'd been a relationship for the past three months, but Cooper, well, his brother wasn't the most observant.

"Sorry Coop, bad timing so far I guess. He was just over a couple of days ago because he works for Ari Gold."

Blaine decided that the best cure for his nerves would be a dive into the pool. Even though the air was pleasant, the water in the pool still hadn't warmed and he shivered slightly when his head broke the surface. He shook his head, making sure the water in his hair sprayed his brother. Cooper retaliated by jumping in after him and dunking his head under the water.

"That's for not telling me you've become lame and settled down," Cooper informed him. Blaine shook his head.

"This isn't anything bad for me, Coop. I've wanted a relationship for the longest time, so this isn't a set back." Too bad it wasn't a real relationship. Blaine banished the thought quickly. "There will still be parties and Nick and Jeff are going to make sure there are plenty of girls around for you guys, okay," he changed the subject.

"As long as you don't become boring," Cooper conceded. "Because, I've seen what relationships have done to my friends. Suddenly, they don't have time to meet up anymore because they have to do couple-y things with other couples and they often look down on you or pity you for being single. As if being in a relationship is the most important thing in the world."

Blaine heard what Cooper wasn't saying. 'Don't abandon me, like my friends have, even if I'd deserve it after how I treated you when you were still in school in Ohio'.

"I promise, I will still spend time with you guys. I've been with Kurt for a couple of weeks and you didn't notice, so why should things change now?" Blaine winced when he saw the hurt look on his brother's face. He really should stop rubbing it into Cooper's face that he was super oblivious to the things happening around him.

"You're going public with him," Cooper reminded him. "You're going to spend more time together because you don't want to hide him anymore. Tell yourself whatever you want, but everything is going to change. I just really hope it will change for the better."

"Thanks, Coop," Blaine groaned. "I'm already terrified of tonight's party. Do you have to make it worse?"

Cooper waved him off. "I'm not talking about your coming out. Who cares what those people think. You've told the people who matter the most years ago, and here we are, still loving and supporting you. I'm talking about this Kurt guy. You must be really sure of your relationship if you're willing to go public with him. Because, if you get into a fight or break up, all eyes will be on you and everyone will have an opinion about it. And he'll never be anonymous again. He'll always be the guy Blaine Anderson came out for - whether that's true or not is irrelevant. So, I guess you must really think it's going to work out with him, if you're willing to put him through all that."

Blaine hadn't thought of any of this and was surprised his brother of all people had. He was so used to people trying to befriend him these days because he was a celebrity and they wanted to be part of his lifestyle, that he sometimes forgot about the downsides. About the lack of privacy, about people who thought they were entitled to know every little thing about him, about photographers who thought it was their god given right to snap pictures of him as soon as he left his house and about fans who thought he was a stuck up asshole when he wouldn't let them touch him. He wondered if Kurt had thought about these things before he had agreed to the deal. Blaine hoped that he had. Hoped that Kurt had made an informed decision and wouldn't regret agreeing to this 'relationship' once people started talking about it. He also realized that he probably should have asked Kurt what Ari Gold's leverage had been. Because it really had come as a huge surprise when the agent had called to say that Kurt was in.

"We talked about it and Kurt's ready," he assured his brother. He had to trust that Kurt was because otherwise this whole thing really would end in a disaster.

* * *

At seven on the dot, Blaine buzzed Kurt's cab in. From the window next to the door, he watched as his 'boyfriend' paid the cabbie and as soon as the car started to drive away, he opened the door with a smile on his face.

"Do you need any help with that?" he asked, pointing at the bags next to Kurt's feet. When he had texted Kurt asking what he thought about a BBQ, Kurt had promised to go to the farmer's market and buy a couple of steaks.

"The black bag's the meat," Kurt replied, as he hoisted a sport's bag over his shoulder. "And the brown paper bag is corn, zucchini and tomatoes."

Blaine took the grocery bags and motioned Kurt to follow him into the house. He lead him through the living room into the large kitchen, where Nick and Jeff were filling popcorn, potato chips and tacos into large plastic bowls.

"We put some mini fridges out on the terrace and my brother Cooper is trying to get a fire started," he explained as he unpacked the bags Kurt had brought along. After he unwrapped the steaks, he turned to Kurt in surprise. "They're already marinated."

Kurt shrugged. "I didn't know whether you cooked a lot and had spices."

"Actually, Jeff's a fantastic cook, but thank you. Means we have time to give you a tour of the house before everyone else gets here."

Kurt nodded and shifted his overnight bag from one shoulder to the other.

"We should probably start with the guest room so you can put away your things," Blaine realized.

He led Kurt back into the foyer and up a grand staircase. It wasn't as pompous as the staircases at Dalton, but it reminded him of his former private school. "On this floor, Wes, David, Nick and Jeff have their bedrooms. All the bathrooms are en suites, so in case people are asking you for the bathroom, send them to the ones downstairs. I'll show you," he explained, before leading Kurt up to the third floor of the house. "Up here, there's Wes and David's office, Cooper's bedroom, a gym, my bedroom and a guest bedroom, usually for when my mom visits. You can stay there."

They had agreed that Kurt should stay the night, because it would look strange if his boyfriend of a couple of weeks didn't sleep over, but left with the other party goers.

"So which one's your bedroom?" Kurt asked, his eyes looking up and down the hallway to memorize the layout. Blaine's house was huge and he sincerely hoped that none of Blaine's friends who'd been here before would ask him anything about it.

The actor opened the second door on the right, and gestured for Kurt to walk through. The curtains were pushed aside, allowing Kurt a view of the balcony and the city below. "Wow," he gushed. "This is amazing."

He made sure not to look at Blaine's bed. According to Santana, Blaine's former publicist had had a lot of work with him, because the actor slept around a lot. Even though they weren't really dating, he didn't want to know how many guys had been in Blaine's bed.

"I know. A lot of mornings I can't believe that I actually get to live here. It seems so surreal. I mean, a couple of years ago, I was just this dorky guy from Ohio who loved Harry Potter and Disney songs and here I am now, living in this gorgeous house and getting paid to do what I love. I've been so fucking lucky."

Kurt didn't disagree. He tried to imagine himself in Blaine's shoes, but he couldn't. Once upon a time, he had wanted to be on Broadway, had even found a voice coach, who had nicely but quite assuredly told him, that there was just no market for people with voices like his. Not unless Kurt wanted to train to be an opera singer. He'd been devastated, but then, fortunately, he'd discovered writing. He still loved to sing and from time to time, when he got to watch a live musical, he did feel kind of sad about having given up before he even gave it a try, but in the end, he was happy where he was today. He'd made the right decision, majoring in writing instead of fruitlessly trying to get into a performing arts school. He would have gotten a solo in his glee club or a role in the countless school musicals he auditioned for, had he really had any talent.

Next, Blaine led him next door to the guest room. Inside was a large king size bed with navy blue comforter and a mountain of pillows. There was no balcony, but the room had nearly the same view as Blaine's bedroom. When he compared it to his view of the frat houses, he understood why people wanted to be famous and live like Blaine.

"You have your own bathroom," Blaine pointed to a door on the left, "and I'm pretty sure, Juanita, our housekeeper left you some towels. If not let me know."

Kurt didn't tell him that he brought his own, because he wasn't familiar with the etiquette of sleeping over at someone's place. His only experience was sleepovers with two female friends in high school and he had always showered at home the next day. Now, Kurt had to be the last one to leave Blaine's house and no one knew when the last of the regular guests would leave. At a party like this, Blaine had told him, a few people always passed out and didn't go home until some time the next day.

"Thanks," Kurt told him and dropped his sports bag on a chair by the window. He was already dressed for the party; tight, distressed blue jeans, silver belt, dark grey, short sleeve button down with the top buttons undone and his favorite pair of black Doc Martin's finishing the outfit. Next to Blaine, in his burgundy shorts, black Star Wars T-shirt and colorful flip flops, he felt quite overdressed, but when he'd asked Blaine about the dress code, the actor had told him to just wear something he felt comfortable in and that there wasn't a dress code.

They went back downstairs and Blaine showed him the rest of the first floor; the dining room, the music room with a baby grand piano, a set of drums, two violins and a couple of guitars, the home theater with seats for ten people and the two bathrooms. Blaine also took him to the garage, where Kurt snapped a couple of pictures for his dad, before they walked out onto the terrace. Kurt's jaw dropped when he saw Blaine's backyard. Next to a large pool was a hot tub for six people and the pool itself was surrounded by comfortable looking lounge chairs. The grill was on the terrace and a guy wearing only a pair of speedos, was trying to get a fire started. Next to him were the familiar faces of Nick and Jeff, who were blowing on the coals in an attempt to help the guy. All they had achieved so far however, was that their faces were dirtied by ash. To the left of the grill, a table had been set up, holding bowls of different salads, the snacks from he kitchen, and the vegetables and meat Kurt had bought at the market. In the two chairs closest to the grill, Wes and David were nursing a beer, both still in their suits. They were the first to notice Kurt's arrival.

"Hey Kurt, how you doing?" David greeted him like he'd known Kurt for months.

The man in front of the grill, turned around when he heard Kurt's name, and Kurt barely stifled a gasp. Because even at thirty-five, Cooper Anderson was still fucking hot. Blaine, unfortunately, noticed his gawking.

"Coop, go and put on a shirt. You're making me look bad at my own party."

Cooper's eyes glinted mischievously. "Ah, I see. That's why you haven't introduced me before. You're afraid he'll realize I'm the hotter brother," he teased his brother, who scoffed.

"You're straight Coop. It doesn't matter if he finds you hot or not."

Kurt could tell that this was a sore spot for Blaine, so he was quick to assure him that he didn't like Cooper better.

"Honey," he moved closer to Blaine. "You know he's way too old for me. No offense," he faced Cooper again and held out his hand. "I'm Kurt, nice to meet you."

Cooper pouted for a moment before he broke into a smile. "I like him, Squirt. Sounds like a keeper."

A large weight fell from his shoulders. Because if they could fool Blaine's brother, his former coworkers shouldn't be a problem.

"I hope so," Kurt kept playing his part and held out his hand for the lighter Cooper was holding. "Let me give it a try. After my dad had a heart attack, I had to take over the grill at home to make sure he wasn't sneaking any red meat."

"Be my guest," Cooper stepped aside. "I should get a shirt any way."

A couple of minutes later, they had a nice fire going and Kurt closed the lid of the grill.

"You definitely have to be here for all our future BBQs," Nick exclaimed. "It usually takes us like an hour to get a fire started."

"If I knew you better, I'd make a joke about pampered private school preppies," Kurt winked at Nick who laughed, before tossing him a beer from the fridge. Kurt tossed it back. "I'll stick to water for now. I don't want to be drunk by the time Blaine's friends show up."

"So responsible." Jeff clutched his heart. "Are you sure that you are younger than us?" Kurt decided to ignore him and looked around the backyard once more. "Is there anything else I can help you with?" Jeff shook his head. "Just man the grill until Cooper's back."

Blaine, who had followed his brother inside, returned and handed Kurt a bottle of water. Kurt noticed that his hands were shaking lightly.

"Nervous?" he asked the actor quietly. Blaine nodded. "Me too," Kurt admitted. "What if your friends hate me? What if they think I'm not good enough for you?" He checked that Cooper wasn't back yet before he added, "Which is ridiculous, because we aren't even dating for real."

"Doesn't matter. We all want to be liked," Blaine said. Before he could add something else, the intercom buzzed.

"I'll get it," Jeff called out and rushed inside.

"My friends like you," Kurt told Blaine quickly. "They can't wait to meet you."

Blaine face broke into a smile. "Really?" Kurt nodded. Blaine started to say something but they were interrupted by a woman in her late thirties.

"Melinda," Blaine greeted her warmly. "Kurt this is Melinda, she was my make up artist for the past five year. Melinda," Blaine seemed to steel himself and Kurt slipped his hand into Blaine's, because it seemed like the right thing to do in this situation. "This is my boyfriend, Kurt."

If Melinda was surprised, she masked it well. "Nice to meet you, Kurt," she smiled at him. Blaine visibly relaxed, only to freeze up again when a voice spoke up from behind them. Kurt recognized her immediately. Rebecca Quinn. She sounded just as obnoxious as her character.

"Why are you holding hands with a guy, Blaine? And why the hell did you tell TMZ we only went on a date to mess with the paparazzi?" Blaine turned slowly, his grip on Kurt's hand tight. Kurt followed him until they came face to face with Blaine's former co-star and on screen girlfriend. She was taller than Blaine, nearly as tall as Kurt, with long blond hair, green eyes and a mouth that was currently pulled into a pout. The V of her azure blue cocktail dress was so deep, Kurt could see all the way to her belly button. She was just as good looking as she was on TV, and Kurt wouldn't be surprised if Blaine was the first guy who had ever told her no.

"Becca," Blaine greeted her with a fake smile on his face. "I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Kurt." He watched in satisfaction as her jaw dropped. They'd never really gotten along in all the years they'd worked together, but it would have been rude not to invite her to the party. And in the end, Blaine really wanted her to hear his revelation. She'd come on to him at every party they attended together, and this, telling her about Kurt, would hopefully finally convince her that he really wasn't interested.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rebecca drawled. "If you didn't want to date me, you should have just told me. No need to embarrass me in front of your friends by pretending to be gay."

Blaine realized that Rebecca had arrived with a large group of people, who were all following the exchange. He felt Kurt squeeze his hand in support. "I'm not sure what you mean, Becca," he smiled at her. "I'm not pretending to be anything. I am gay." Gosh, it felt good to finally say it out loud, Blaine thought.

"I knew it," Kyle, one of the ACs exclaimed. "I knew I saw you in Boyztown last fall."

"Guilty," Blaine admitted with a lopsided smile on his face. Suddenly, everything was much easier. His hands no longer shook, and it felt like a bolder had been removed from his chest. The only thing that was missing, was a real boyfriend, someone who actually cared, but he was still grateful that Kurt was doing this for him, was putting himself in the line of fire for Blaine.

"We need to talk," Rebecca hissed and grabbed his other hand, pulling him away from Kurt. When David tried to step in, Blaine shook his head. She wasn't really a threat to him.

"Alright, I'm listening," he told her when they were in his music room.

"You had your fun, but now you're gonna go back out there and tell everyone that you were joking," she ordered him.

Blaine frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"I've never made a secret out of the fact that I want you. I've always gotten any guy I've set my sights on. And you know I wasn't the only one who profited from the fans' speculations about our real life relationship status. They shipped us just as bad as our characters."

"Get to the point, Rebecca," Blaine interrupted her. "What's all that got to do with me?"

Rebecca smiled at him, dangerously. "Let's just say, if you go ahead with this little charade while Loser is still on the air, and everyone still remembers my cryptic answers to questions about our relationship status, I will ruin your reputation. I will tell people that we've been dating on and off during the show and you dumped me for a guy because I'm saving myself for marriage. I will tell everyone what a dirty pervert your brother is and I'm pretty sure that Terrance won't have any qualms about publishing all the pictures he buried over the last couple of years. Every shitty little thing you've ever done, I'll make sure the press and your fans find out about it. And when I'm through with you, no parent will ever let their kids buy something associated with you again."

Blaine looked at Rebecca in disbelief. "You do realize that if people lose interest in LLM because of me, you're losing out as well, right?"

Rebecca shrugged. "Plenty of people have benefited from their co-stars' scandals in the past."

"You're crazy," Blaine told his former co-star. That was his only explanation.

"Maybe," Rebecca shrugged. "But if you don't want to find out how crazy I can be, you stop this charade right now and go public with me."

Blaine shook his head and walked out of the music room. Outside, he ran into Wes.

"Everything okay?" Wes asked and Blaine shook his head.

"No, but this is a party, and I won't let her ruin it. But we need to talk. All of us, before Kurt leaves tomorrow."

He walked back out onto the terrace where Cooper was cooking the first couple of steaks while Kurt was talking to Melinda.

"You okay?" Kurt repeated Wes' question when he joined him.

Blaine nodded. "Come on, there's a couple of people I wanna introduce you to."

Thankfully, the rest of the cast and crew of Loser Like Me were incredibly supportive. It was surprising, however, how many people had been suspicious of Blaine's sexuality. It turned out, that he had run into a bunch of his co workers in the city's gay bars without noticing them. They had noticed him however, but assuming that he was in the closet, had never said anything. Kurt was well liked as well. Everyone wanted to know how they had met and how long they'd been dating and Blaine was glad they had come up with a backstory together.

"Why do I always run into the douche bags from high school when I go back home to Kansas," Marley Rose, one of Blaine's younger co-stars sighed dramatically, "instead of, I don't know, some famous hottie who lives out here as well."

"I'm also from Ohio and I've never met either of you," a bubbly blonde joined their conversation.

"Brittany, you've been my dance instructor for three years," Blaine laughed, while Kurt looked at the girl in confusion. "You wouldn't be at my party if we hadn't met before."

"I know that," Brittany pouted. "I meant that I never met you in Ohio."

"Brittany is our assistant choreographer," Blaine introduced the newcomer to Kurt. "When she does a move, it looks good, but when I do…" Blaine trailed off.

"Now you're just fishing for compliments in front of your beau," Tina Cohen - Chang, another of Blaine's co-stars teased the actor.

At this point, Kurt had met nearly all of the stars of Loser Like Me and though he was definitely star struck, he thought he'd hidden it well so far. At least, he hadn't asked for selfies with Jean Baptiste and Jesse St. James yet who played Matthew and Eric, his favorite couple on the show. In a way, Jesse reminded him of Rachel Berry, the girl who'd gotten all the solos in their glee club and was currently touring the country with the tour cast of 'Wicked' according to her Facebook feed. He wasn't sure though whether they'd get along or hate each other because of their similarities.

"I've actually been asked to do a couple of Broadway shows," the actor bragged. "Limited runs, so the fans will pay crazy amounts of money to see me. I'll probably say yes to that revival of 'Hairspray'. I think I'd make a pretty amazing Link Larkin."

With every word he uttered, Kurt liked Jesse St. James less and less, but he had to agree that the actor had an amazing voice and would probably do well on Broadway. Just like Blaine, but Kurt didn't know if he'd gotten any offers as well. He didn't ask, because as 'the boyfriend', he should be aware of Blaine's future plans. Thankfully, Jesse asked the question for him.

"What about you? Any offers yet? I've heard you're doing the Hollywood Bowl again."

Blaine nodded. "I've auditioned for Bare but they haven't made any decision yet."

Kurt decided it was time to play the supportive boyfriend again.

"I'm sure you'll get it," he told Blaine and squeezed the hand he'd been holding for the past hour. "Your audition was phenomenal."

It was hard to tell in the lights coming only from the moon and the pool lamps, but it looked to Kurt, like Blaine's cheeks turned red.

"See you don't have to fish for compliments. He'll do it on his own accord," Tina laughed.

Suddenly they were splashed by cold pool water. Nick and Jeff, chased by a group of girls, had dived in, spraying anyone sitting close to the pool. Before Kurt knew what was happening, Blaine had pulled him to his feet and dragged him into the pool.

"Revenge!" Kurt heard him call out, before his head was submerged under the cold water. After coughing out the water he'd swallowed, Kurt turned to glare at Blaine, but his 'boyfriend' was already chasing Nick and Jeff around the pool with an inflatable light saber. Poolside, the girls were taking off their dresses and jumped in as well. Kurt's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he noticed that a bunch of them weren't wearing a bra. Soon, everyone was in the water, and so Kurt decided to join in for now and be mad at Blaine later for pulling him into the pool fully dressed. His phone, together with his wallet, fortunately, was up in the guest room. He'd left his cell there, so he wouldn't be tempted to ask Blaine's celebrity friends for pictures. After a while, Kurt got cold however and he pulled himself out of the pool.

"Where are you going?" Blaine called out, his curly hair flying in all directions.

"To get a change of clothes," Kurt replied, earning him a wolf whistle from Kyle. When Kurt raised an eyebrow in question, the AC added. "You're either going to wear Blaine's clothes or you already have clothes at his place."

Kurt had never dated anyone long enough to even visit another guy's place so he wasn't sure if changing into a new outfit warranted a wolf whistle. "Okay," he replied trying not to show his confusion. "Do you want something?" he remembered to ask Blaine before walking into the house.

Blaine shook his head. "I'll be up in a minute."

Upstairs in his room, Kurt took a few minutes to compose himself. So far he hadn't embarrassed himself in front of Blaine's friends even though they been drinking steadily since dinner. And everyone seemed to believe that he and Blaine were an actual couple. Maybe he should have given acting a try after all, Kurt mused, when there was a knock on the door.

"You okay, Kurt? Do you need anything?" Blaine asked.

Kurt considered his options. He could wear the t-shirt he'd planned to sleep in, but it was a faded McKinley P.E shirt, not meant to be shown in public. Or he could change into his outfit for the next day but then he wouldn't have a change of clothes tomorrow.

"Could you maybe lend me a shirt?" he decided. The jeans he could reuse, but his shirts, they weren't meant to be worn more than once without ironing them.

"Sure, be right back," Blaine replied. While he waited, Kurt tried to fix his wet hair. Most of it hung limp over his forehead, but he decided not to make a fuss about it. Because in the end, there was no one he needed to impress and everyone had jumped into the pool. When Blaine knocked again, Kurt opened the door quickly. His jaw nearly hit the floor, because there he was in front of him; Blaine Anderson, completely shirtless. Sure, Kurt had seen shirtless pictures of the actor before and Blaine had also taken his shirt off a couple of times this season on LLM, but that still hadn't prepared Kurt for what was suddenly right in front of him. Namely Blaine's abs. He quickly grabbed the proffered t-shirt and stammered out a 'thanks' before pretty much slamming the door in Blaine's face. The last thing he needed was getting excited in front of his fake boyfriend. He was only human. And it was his choice not to screw around, it wasn't because he had no interest in sex. He eyed the t-shirt Blaine had handed him. It was a black v neck and written on it in white was, 'Actor problems: My garage only fits ten cars. Where will I park the Maserati?'. Kurt snorted. He usually wan't a fan of novelty t-shirts, but he loved Blaine's sense of humor.

After quickly changing his outfit, replying to a text from Santana asking about the party and hanging his wet clothes over the bathtub he rejoined the party. Most of the guests had shed their wet clothes as well and were sitting poolside wrapped in fluffy towels someone must have organized for them while Kurt and Blaine had gone upstairs. The table next to the grill had been cleaned of all perishables and now it was used as a bar where to Kurt's surprise, David was mixing cocktails.

"They are fantastic," Blaine whispered into his ear, nearly making him jump. Kurt let Blaine retake his hand and pull him over to the makeshift bar. Cocktails in hand - Cosmopolitan for Kurt and Caipirinha for Blaine - they sat back down next to Blaine's friends.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. It was well after five in the morning when Blaine and Kurt went upstairs together, Jeff and Nick taking care of whoever was still awake in the living room.

"Thanks for tonight," Blaine told Kurt as they reached the third floor.

"I had fun," Kurt admitted. "I didn't think I would, because I was so nervous, but those are some nice people you worked with."

"They are," Blaine agreed. "I'm gonna miss them now that the show is over. And then there are some, I'm so happy I don't have to see again."

"Like Rebecca Quinn?" Kurt giggled. They both were quite drunk.

Blaine groaned. "That reminds me, we gotta talk before you leave tomorrow, okay?"

Kurt's expression sobered. "Sounds serious."

Blaine shrugged. "Could be. Maybe. I don't know. Let's talk tomorrow."

"Alright," Kurt agreed. "Good night, Blaine."

"Good night, Kurt."


	9. The Threat

**'THE THREAT'**

" **Y** ou should definitely tell Ari and Shauna what that bitch said," Wes fumed after Blaine finished recounting the conversation he'd had with his former co-star.

Kurt looked at Wes in surprise. He didn't look like a guy who cursed often. But he agreed with Blaine's manager. "They might have to do some damage control if she really goes public with everything she knows about you. What I don't understand, however, is why she thinks she can drag your brother into this. I mean sure his commercials aren't Oscar worthy, but there's nothing wrong with filming commercials.

Blaine and Cooper shared a look. Cooper shrugged. "You could have just told him. You know I have nothing to hide."

Blaine's brother got up from the couch and briefly left the room. When he returned, he was holding a DVD in his hand.

Blaine groaned. "Seriously Coop? You don't have to show him."

Kurt furrowed his brows in confusion. What was he missing? The film's credits appeared on the screen. They said 'Magic Mike in When Harry Ate Sally'. A guy that looked suspiciously like Cooper entered the screen. It hit Kurt like a ton of bricks. The guy was Cooper and judging by the title, this was a pornographic movie.

"You're in a porn movie?" he gaped at Cooper, who snorted.

"Try fifty in the last twelve years," Blaine's brother laughed.

Kurt looked at Blaine, who shrugged. "Yep, my brother's a porn star."

At least, that explained why Rebecca Quinn thought she could blackmail Blaine with his brother's career.

"And I don't care who knows it, okay," Cooper added, his expression sober. "I'm not ashamed of it. The only reason I kept quiet was because Blaine was auditioning for a teen show and I didn't want to ruin his chances. Personally, I don't give a fuck if Rebecca tells the press or not. Your decision," he turned to Blaine.

'But what about our parents?" Blaine turned to Cooper. "If this gets out, I'm sure someone will tell them." After everything their mom had done for him, Blaine didn't want her to get hurt because he was selfish.

Cooper winced and gave Blaine an apologetic smile. "Mom knows."

"What?" Blaine exclaimed. "Whenever we talk I make up stories about movies you're auditioning for and jobs you have, and she knows."

Wes, David and Kurt, the only other people in the room, were following the brothers' argument like a tennis match.

"Oops, I thought I told you," Cooper replied. "One of her friends was getting remarried and they gave her porn for her Bachelorette party. They decided to watch some at the party and yours truly was in it. And dad, well, I used his first name as part of my pseudonym - I'd love for him to find out."

"I can't believe it," Blaine mumbled. Suddenly, a hand took a hold of his and gave it a squeeze.

The moment he realized what he was doing, Kurt let go though. They were sitting close together as it was, for Cooper's benefit, and he considered additional PDA unnecessary. Unfortunately, he'd taken Blaine's hand out of instinct and not because he thought he should.

"So that's one thing she could reveal," he put the conversation back on track. "What about the other stuff. Could she know names? Or would she only out you?"

Blaine's face turned bright red. "I'd be surprised if she knew any names," he admitted, "because I never really bothered to ask. Either I knew who they were, because they were closeted celebrities like me or I didn't give a fuck about their names." It was clear, that Blaine wasn't too happy with his past. When he turned to Kurt, he said harshly. "If she releases that information, you have to be prepared to be either called another one of my boy toys or you're going to be pitied for dating a slut."

"What?" Kurt exclaimed. "No one calls your brother a slut, so why would you be one?"

"Because I'm not sleeping with girls," Blaine sighed. "There's still a double standard. If straight guys sleep around, they are studs, if girls do the same, they are sluts and if gays sleep around, they're just asking for an STI or worse. We grew up in the same state, you know what people say about guys like us," Blaine turned to Kurt, looking dejected.

"You need to own your past," Kurt decided, even though he couldn't imagine acting like Blaine had. "Don't let anyone tell you that what you did was wrong. We live in a post 'Sex and the City' society. So screw anyone, who'd judge you for a couple of one night stands."

"I agree," Wes said. "Sure, conservatives won't like it, but they won't like that you're gay, period."

The intercom buzzed. After his outburst, Wes had called Blaine's agent and his publicist. It didn't matter that it was a Sunday. They needed to handle this before Rebecca did something stupid.

"This better be good," Ari marched into the house, followed by Blaine's publicist Shauna. "Mrs. Ari will kill me if I'm not back home within an hour."

Wes quickly filled him and Shauna in. Ari let out a couple of expletives. Shauna took the floor.

"The way I see it, there's only two things you can do. You can let her blackmail you and do what she wants, but then you'd be back on square one. Or you give her the finger and hope that the fallout won't be too bad. I'll try and put a spin on any story she might try to sell, but in this day and age, where everyone with a computer and the internet is a publisher, that's pretty tough."

"I definitely prefer the second option," Blaine decided. 'I'm not exchanging one jailor for another."

"Alright," Shauna agreed. "But then you'll have to speed up your public coming out. Because you don't want her to out you. And she's made it clear that if you go out with Kurt again, she tells everyone who he is to you. And I bet she'll make it out like you're trying to hide your sexuality because you hate yourself for being gay or something like that."

"What do you suggest?" Blaine asked her, because he'd very much liked Santana's plan where he controlled the narrative.

"Lay low until you've released a statement or you've given an interview. In the meantime, tell her you need some time to think about her 'proposal'. Maybe get out of the city for a bit," Shauna suggested.

"My mom's been pestering me about visiting," Blaine mused. "I could spend some time in Ohio. Talk to her about what's going on, in case Rebecca really does go public with Cooper's career."

"I probably should go to Ohio as well and prepare my parents," Kurt agreed. "But we should make sure we fly out on different days, in case you get spotted at LAX."

Blaine wasn't listening to what Kurt was saying, he was deep in thought. How should he tell his fans? An interview sounded so impersonal and it would defy the whole purpose of the plan - not to make a headline of his sexuality. He really wanted it to be a non issue, something, he mentioned casually, instead of coming out in an interview. Suddenly, a lightbulb went on in his head.

"I got it," he exclaimed. All eyes turned to him. "I promised my fans I'd do a live Q&A after the last episode airs. That's in three weeks. I can lay low for three weeks. And then, when I do the Q&A, I'll pick a question where someone asks about my relationship status. Someone always asks."

"I like it," Shauna nodded. "Act like what your saying is no news at all, so she can't turn it into a headline." Then she frowned. "I'm starting to wonder why you even have a publicist, you come up with all the great ideas on your own."

"Oh shut up, Shauna," Ari told her. "You know you are the best, as much I as hate to say it. And can we wrap this up? I need to be back home in twenty." Everyone nodded. 'Great, Kurt, you can leave early next Friday and fly to Ohio. Blaine you should leave as soon as possible. I'll try to get you a couple of auditions before shit hits the fan. Cooper, make me a list of all the nasty things you've done. I need to know what I'm dealing with. And you," he pointed at David. "Be his fucking lawyer, and make sure she knows that Blaine will sue her for slander, if she releases anything about him or his family."

Ari got off the couch and walked briskly to the front door. 'My assistant will be in touch." It was clear that he meant Kurt.

Blaine turned to Kurt, after the door closed behind Shauna as well "So, I'll see you in Ohio next weekend?" he asked.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? What if we're seen together?" Kurt worried.

"My mom's address isn't listed and so far no paparazzi or fans have ever shown up at her house. Come for dinner. She'd kill me if she found out you are in Ohio but not coming over."

"Okay," Kurt agreed hesitantly. He would just have to make sure that his dad didn't ask for the same, because if Blaine showed up in Lima and some fans spotted him, it wouldn't be too difficult for Rebecca to figure out why he was there. Unfortunately, his name was pretty unusual, so when you google Kurt and Lima, you were immediately linked to the McKinley Mudraker, the school newspaper that had printed some truly horrendous stories about him. Including pictures and an online video blog. He'd tried to get them taken down, but because it was a case of he said, he said and he couldn't prove that what the author was saying was a lie, there was nothing he could do about it. At least, the paper had to change his full name to Kurt H., so that not everyone who stumbled upon it, immediately knew who he was.

Blaine must have sensed his hesitation. "You're sure you're still on board?"

Kurt swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. "Yeah, sure." After all, Rebecca had threatened to go after Blaine and not him. There was no way this would affect him too.


	10. The Coming Out

AN: This chapter mentions Kurt and Blaine getting attacked in Ohio.

 **'THE COMING OUT'**

 **T** he weather was disgustingly cold for late March. It must have snowed recently as well, because when Kurt stepped outside the terminal at Columbus airport, his boots were met with slush. After living in L.A for three years, he really wasn't used to the cold anymore. He wrapped his scarf around his neck, while he scanned the parked cars for his dad's familiar pick up truck.

"Kurt," a gruff male voice called out and Kurt turned toward it. Burt Hummel, dressed as always in lose blue jeans. trucker hat and a parker over his flannel shirt, hurried over to his son, and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "Missed you, kiddo."

"Missed you too, Dad," Kurt replied. When his dad tried to take his suitcase, Kurt handed him his messenger bag instead. After a heart attack and a cancer scare, it was bad enough that his dad still worked full time at his garage.

They climbed into his dad's truck, after putting his luggage into the trunk, and his dad immediately cranked up the heat. "We had some pretty heavy snowfall yesterday," he explained. Kurt nodded.

"How's Carole?" he asked, because he really didn't want to talk about the weather with his dad.

"She's good. She just got back from a girls' trip to Atlantic City. Actually won some money."

"Really?" Kurt asked incredulously. Carole had the worst pokerface and whenever they played boardgames or cards together she always lost.

"That's what I said," his dad laughed. "She wasn't amused. But we can talk about your stepmom later. I wanna know why you're here? You never visit between Christmas and your birthday and I know you just started a very demanding job. I'm not sick, so why?"

"Couldn't I have just wanted to see you?" Kurt tried his best to sound innocent. His dad wasn't buying it.

"We could have skyped. So what's going on? You in trouble or something?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, I just have some news which I wanted to tell you and Carole in person."

They stopped at a red light and his dad turned to face him. "You only talk to the two of us together, when you think I won't like what you're going to say. But I'm drawing a blank here. Did you get drunk and knock up a girl?"

"What?" Kurt sputtered. "I would never … do that with a girl. No one's pregnant. I mean, I'm sure some people are pregnant, but I have nothing to do with it," he rambled.

"Okay, okay," his dad raised his hands in surrender. Behind them, another driver honked his horn. The light had turned green. "You can tell us when we get home."

For the rest of the drive, Kurt told his dad a little bit more about his new job and his dad told him about some of the crazier costumers he'd had since Kurt had last been home. Before he knew it, the two hour drive was over, and his dad pulled into their driveway.

His parents lived in a two storey house with a white picket fence around the front and backyard. It was in quiet part of Lima, surrounded by houses just like theirs. They'd moved into the house after his dad and Carole had gotten married, because their old house, didn't have enough room for the four of them. It wasn't the house, he'd grown up in, but he still felt very much at home there, every time he was visiting. His bedroom looked exactly like it had back in high school, minus some knick knacks, pictures and the vanity he'd taken to college with. All his furniture was painted white and his walls were decorated with black and white photographs of famous landmarks. Up in his room, he quickly unpacked his suitcase and hung up his clothes before he changed into comfortable lounge pants and an old hoodie. Downstairs, Carole and his dad were waiting for him in the living room. He accepted a mug of hot chocolate from his stepmom.

"It's with a splash of rum for the two of us," she winked. She was drinking out of a mug that said 'Best Stepmom'. Kurt had given it to her the first mother's day after her son had died.

Kurt took a sip from his hot chocolate and smiled at her. "Just like I like it."

Burt complained that he had to drink warm milk. But he knew it was for his own good. He then turned to his son. "So, spill."

Kurt put down his mug. He fiddled with his hands and studied his nails. This shouldn't be hard. He'd told his parents worse. But it had always been the truth. Now, he would lie to them, deceive them, just so that they could claim plausible deniability if anyone ever found out the truth. Still, he didn't like it. He never lied to his dad. At least, until now.

"I have a boyfriend," he opened with. Carole interrupted him immediately.

"That's wonderful, honey. Don't tell me you were nervous about telling us about him."

"I'm happy for you, kiddo," his dad added and Kurt winced, because he was sure his dad would change his tune once he heard the rest.

"That's not all," he continued. "He's not like me." He was interrupted again.

"Is he older?" his dad asked, while Carole, at the same time, asked, "Is he bi?"

"Can I finish please?" Kurt grumbled. His parents nodded and Carole mimed zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.

"Yes, his older, but only by a year. No, he's not bi. He's not like me, because he's famous. And he's in the closet so only his closest friends know about me. However, he wants up to go public in a few weeks, and we thought our parents should hear about the relationship from us and not from the tabloids," Kurt finished. He'd been right. The vein above his dad's left eyebrow throbbed.

"You know you deserve better than some closet case, kiddo. And a celebrity. Do you really want your personal life to be dragged out into the open? I'm sure there are also nice, regular guys in L.A. And if it's about the money, I'm sure there are plenty of single doctors or lawyers."

Kurt tried not to be insulted by his dad's last comment. He didn't understand L.A. The way his dad saw it, you only lived there if you wanted to be part of the Hollywood lifestyle. He didn't really get that Kurt lived in L.A because his chances to have a career in his chosen field were the greatest there.

Fortunately, Carole was on his side. "Sweetheart, that's so exciting. Who is he? Or aren't you allowed to tell?"

"You're my parents, of course I can tell you," Kurt replied. His dad relaxed a little. "His name is Blaine Anderson, his also from Ohio originally and his on…"

"Loser Like Me!" Carole exclaimed. "Oh, I know who he is. So handsome," she beamed at Kurt.

"He is," Kurt gushed, remembering the role he had to play. Though, in all honesty, it wasn't hard to gush about Blaine's looks. "We met, when I was here for Christmas and I never thought I'd hear from him again once I was back in L.A. But he called and we got to know one another," he smiled, a rare toothy smile.

Carole gasped and smacked his shoulder lightly. "And you didn't tell me. I could have used that information when Misty was going on and on about her son getting into Harvard. Screw Harvard, this is way better."

Kurt chuckled. "I'm happy you're happy for me, Carole, but you can't say anything. At least, not until Blaine's made his announcement and even after, I'd prefer it if not a lot of people know I'm involved with him. If people find out on their own I can't stop them, but please don't go out of your way to let the whole neighborhood know."

"Of course, honey, whatever you want," Carole assured him. "This is just all so exciting. When do we get to meet him?"

"Yes, when do I get to meet this guy?" his dad repeated and Kurt winced.

"Next time I'm here probably. I'm invited to dinner at his mom's house tomorrow night, and Sunday morning, I already have to fly back to L.A."

"Yeah, no. You're not flying back before I've met this guy. Where's his family live?"

"Columbus," Kurt replied and waited for his father to realize what that meant.

"But your flight leaves at ten," Burt frowned. "Wouldn't it be better if he came here so you don't have to drive back and forth so much. You're going to be exhausted when this weekend is over."

"Burt," Carole looked at his dad meaningfully and Burt's eyes widened.

"You're spending the night," he exclaimed, and Kurt had to remind himself that he wasn't seventeen anymore and asking his dad if he could go on a date with a boy from West Lima High.

"You said it yourself," Kurt shrugged nonchalantly. "It's too far to go back and forth. At Blaine's house I'm going to be so much closer to the airport."

This had been the argument that had convinced him to spend the night at the Andersons' rather than go back to Lima. Blaine's house was only thirty minutes from the airport and according to their backstory, they'd already been dating for a few months. It would have probably raised more questions if Kurt didn't spend the night.

"I'm nearly twenty-four," he reminded his dad, who sighed.

"I know, I know. But then Carole and I are driving you there so we can meet this boy. Must be pretty serious after all, if you're going public together and meeting his family already."

Kurt winced yet again. He hadn't told his family everything yet. "You better sit back down for this," he advised his dad. "And maybe get a light beer."

His dad searched his face for a moment before he complied and went into the kitchen. Carole added another splash of rum to their hot chocolates. Only when his dad had sat back down in his chair, did Kurt continue his story.

"The reason why we're doing all this in a pretty new relationship - you know, telling the parents and meeting the parents - is because Blaine's being blackmailed by someone who doesn't want him to come out. But Blaine's dead set on it and things may get ugly. We want our families to be prepared in case this happens."

Burt gaped at his son. He'd always known that moving to L.A wasn't a good idea, especially not with that Santana girl. He'd much preferred it if Kurt had transferred to New York where his friend Rachel lived. Sure, New York was a large city as well, but he didn't think his son would have become part of a scandal there so easily.

"That guy must have money, can't he just pay off whoever has your video."

"Our video?" Kurt asked, honestly confused, before he caught his dad's drift and his eyes widened in shock. "What? No! This isn't about a sex tape!"

"It isn't?" his dad asked, shoulders slumping in relief. Kurt shook his head. "Oh thank God. But what's it about then?"

Kurt realized belatedly that he shouldn't have reacted so strongly, because in the end, part of Rebecca Quinn's blackmail was about a sex tape, multiple actually, only that he wasn't in them.

"There's a few things that Blaine would like to keep out of the press, and this girl, she wants to use that information to smear his reputation," he recounted.

"Just spit it out, kiddo," his dad sighed.

"Hisbrotherisapornstar," Kurt mumbled. His dad raised an eyebrow, totally unimpressed. "His brother makes pornographic movies," Kurt repeated more slowly, his cheeks heating up.

Even though his dad had never caught him with porn - mostly because he didn't like those kinds of movies - he still felt weird saying the word in front of him. Predictably, his dad's eyebrows shot up. Kurt quickly continued before his dad could ask questions.

"And Blaine, well, he's, ah, been with quite a lot of guys since he moved to L.A. His publicist made sure the stories and pictures always got buried, because they show Blaine in an unflattering light, but this girl apparently got her hands on them and is threatening to release them if Blaine sees me again."

"So, she doesn't have anything on you?" Carole asked and Kurt shook his head.

"Not that I know of. So what's most important for Blaine right now, is that he gets to come out before she outs him. That's why he's in Ohio right now. He told her he needs some time to think about her 'offer' and out here, it's harder for her to keep an eye on him."

"Should you even be here then?" his dad grumbled. "What if you are seen together?"

"That's why we're meeting at his mom's house," Kurt explained. "And we were careful. I took a flight from San Diego, just in case she has someone watching LAX."

'All this because this guy wants to come out," his dad shook his head. "I'll never understand you Hollywood people. But, whatever. What do you need us to do?"

"Basically," Kurt said, after taking another sip of his rum fueled hot chocolate, "don't talk to the press if they find out I'm the one who's dating Blaine Anderson. If anyone write something bad about me, you need to ignore it."

"Fine," his dad grunted. "But you know how I feel about people trash talking my family.

"I'm sorry, dad. I really didn't think any of this would happen when I first started seeing him. I thought the biggest problem was that he wasn't out."

It was frightening, how good he was at this. He nearly believed it himself. But the anger he felt on Blaine's behalf was real. Even if he'd never met the actor and had found out someone was doing this to him, he'd be super pissed. It was Blaine's life after all, and only he should be allowed to decided how to live it.

"You really like this guy?" his dad asked and Kurt nodded, working hard to keep eye contact. Fortunately, he did really like Blaine, just not the way his dad meant.

"Alright. Then you have us in your corner. But I still don't like this."

Kurt fell into his dad's arms and let himself be wrapped up in a bear hug. He pressed his cheek against his dad's worn flannel shirt and tried not to think about the fact that he was lying to his dad. Just because he wanted to take a shortcut and find a buyer for his screen play as soon as possible.

He excused himself upstairs and in his bedroom, fell face forward onto his bed. It was nearly midnight in Ohio, and Kurt was exhausted after a half day in the office, driving to San Diego, the flight and the drive to Lima. With a groan, he pulled his flip phone from his pocket - he made sure never to use the company smartphone for personal texts even though they were included in his plan - and sent a quick text to Blaine.

Talk with my parents went surprisingly well. Will drive me to your mom's however to meet you. Be prepared, my stepmom is a fan. - Kurt

He didn't have to wait long for a reply. They'd been texting a lot this past week, because Blaine was bored out of his mind already, with his entourage back in L.A and only his mom for company.

She can't be worse than my mom's friends. They all wanted to touch my hair because it looks so different outside of the show. My mom can't wait to meet you, btw. Think you also have a fan. C U tomorrow - Blaine.

* * *

Kurt tried not to fidget too much on the drive to Columbus the next day as he could feel his father's eyes on him through the rearview mirror. He'd told Carole to ride in the passenger seat to escape Burt's disapproving looks. Carole, on the other hand, was so excited it looked like she could burst any moment.

"He's really nice and super down to earth," he tried again to win the actor some points with his dad - who snorted.

"Down to earth, yeah right. How many people does he have working for him again? And all those cars. You know I love them, but no single person needs a garage that big."

Kurt was seriously regretting now having showed his dad the pictures he took in Blaine's garage or that he told him about Blaine's entourage.

"They're his friends. He wouldn't have a live in entourage if they were strangers," Kurt protested. His dad just shook his head.

"Do you even hear yourself these days, kiddo? You talk about entourages and people having servants like it's the most normal thing in the world. You've changed so much since you moved to that city and I don't think you've even realized," his dad continued and Kurt turned his head and looked out of the side window.

He didn't agree with his dad. He was still the old Kurt Hummel, only that he dressed better now and got invited to cooler parties. And sure, he'd acquired a taste for Champagne since Santana had a knack for smuggling them into parties, but he wouldn't go out and buy a bottle for himself. He still stuck to his weekly budget even though his new job paid him twice as much as the job in the mail room had. No matter how much he wanted to, he hadn't replaced his cell phone with a smartphone yet, because those iPhones were expensive and he didn't really need one for himself when he already had the company smartphone. Their cleaning woman only came once a month instead of every week and Kurt still made sure only to buy groceries that were on sale when he went to the store. So yes, his dad was wrong, Kurt hadn't changed. But he kept his mouth shut. They'd had this discussion too many times since Kurt graduated and told his family he was staying in L.A.

To lighten the mood, Carole kept up a constant stream of conversation about her favorite episodes of LLM, until Kurt started to regret introducing his stepmom to the show in the first place.

"Oh, come on honey. Don't act like you're so much better than me," Carole pouted. "I know, you're an even bigger fan than me."

"I'm a Matric fan, the rest I just hate watch," Kurt huffed. After all, it'd been a few seasons since he'd last enjoyed a full episode of the show. If he hadn't been so invested in Matthew and Eric's relationship he would have resorted to just looking at pictures of Blaine Anderson online a while ago.

"I can't believe they made them break up for the fifth time," Carole grumbled. "They broke up over dirty dishes and now I'm supposed to root for them to get engaged."

"I know," Kurt agreed. "It's so hard to watch some times. Because - and you know how much I love them - if you can't make it work the four times before, why do you think the fifth time's the charm? That show should have just made up its mind; either break them up for good or let them be together and find obstacles they can overcome together instead of breaking up over every little thing."

His dad chucked and Kurt's face flushed. He shouldn't get so worked up over a fictional couple. After all, they were getting a happy ending, Kurt was sure, even though Blaine had refused to confirm Kurt's suspicions when asked. But at least, his dad wasn't scowling anymore.

Before long, they reached the outskirts of Columbus and Kurt put Mrs. Anderson's address into the maps app on his company phone. After a couple of detours, he finally realized that he had to hold the phone upside down so that the phone's north and his north aligned. His dad mumbled something about newfangled crap and swore to bring a street map the next time around.

They were still ten minutes early, when they pulled into a quiet, suburban street. The houses on it were midsize and the front yards filled with snowmen and sleighs even though it was already late March. He knew that Blaine and Cooper had bought the house for their mother, and Kurt thought they'd found a nice area. A dark green station wagon was in the driveway and his dad parked next to it. As he cut the engine, the front door opened and a short woman with curly brown hair peered out of it. When her eyes landed on Kurt, she smiled brightly.

"You must be Kurt and family," she called out. "Come in quickly."

Kurt got his luggage from the trunk of his dad's car and followed the woman into the house. The walls in the small foyer were covered with pictures of Blaine and Cooper, on their own, together and with their mom. Some of them looked like a fourth person had been cut out of them, but after what Blaine had told him about his dad, Kurt understood why Mrs. Anderson didn't want to have her ex on the walls of her home. While Burt and Carole shed their outerwear, Kurt looked at pictures of Blaine in his Dalton uniform. He'd been right - had they met in high school, Kurt totally would have crushed on the older student.

"Hey, no looking at my baby pictures. At least not as long as your withholding your own." Blaine came down the stairs in his usual attire of jeans and t-shirt, though Kurt was glad to see, the actor had put on a long sleeved shirt under his Harry Potter t-shirt. Kurt was also glad he wasn't wearing one of his actor problems novelty shirts because he was certain his dad wouldn't find them funny. "You must be Mr. Hummel and Mrs. Hudson - Hummel," Blaine held out his hand politely. Kurt had briefed him well.

Burt narrowed his eyes at the little punk who wanted to publicly involve his son in a scandal. With the way Kurt dressed and looked, his son was never safe wherever he went, but if suddenly everyone knew that his son didn't just look gay, but was sleeping with some actor, it would make him an even bigger target. The night he'd gotten the call from the Columbus PD, he was certain he had a second heart attack. His son had already been attacked once, he didn't understand why Kurt wanted to put himself in even bigger danger. Not that he could voice any of those concerns because he knew Kurt would do anything to keep Burt healthy - even if it meant giving up his own happiness. He'd let Kurt do it once - when his son had given up college in New York so he could be closer to family - and he wasn't about to let him do it again, no matter how much he was against Kurt dating Blaine Anderson. Who was still holding out his hand for Burt to shake. Burt took it and squeezed hard, making the guy in front of him wince. His son, fortunately, was busy taking off his coat.

"Please follow me into the living room. My oldest, Cooper, is making coffee."

Next to Kurt, Carole turned bright red and Mrs. Anderson rolled her eyes. "Guess Kurt told you about Cooper's illustrious career." Carole nodded. "Just do me a favor and don't watch his movies. All my friends here thought it would be hilarious if they did. It wasn't for me."

"Of course, I would never," Carole stammered while Burt sniggered behind her. Kurt was just glad he wasn't the only one in the family who acted weird when it came to porn.

The Anderson living room was small, but cosy. There were even more family pictures on the walls and the royal blue curtains perfectly matched the sofa. Either Mrs. Anderson had incredible good taste, or she had hired a decorator, Kurt mused as he looked around while his dad and Carole sat down on the couch. It was L shaped with enough space for five people. Still, Kurt joined Blaine on the love seat and tried not to let it show that this was the first time, he and the actor were sitting this close. Just then, Cooper came out of the adjoining kitchen, carrying a tray of coffee mugs, milk, sugar and the coffee. Once everyone had a full cup, introductions were made.

"Mom, these are Kurt's parents, Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson - Hummel," Blaine said. A few days ago, they exchanged emails containing the most important information about their parents like first names, jobs and notable hobbies.

"Pamela, but you can call me Pam," his mom replied. Kurt's dad nearly choked on a sip of coffee.

"Your name is Pamela Anderson?" he asked incredulously.

"I was there first," Pam shrugged. "It was a perfectly good name before that blonde bimbo came along."

It was clear to Kurt why Blaine loved his mother. She had a great sense of humor, she had taste and she clearly loved her boys very much.

Fortunately, his dad refrained from giving Blaine the third degree over coffee and by the time his parents announced that it was time for them to leave, Carole had already exchanged phone numbers with Pam so they could meet up for girls night.

* * *

Cooper excused himself to get ready for a date with a girl he'd met in a club the previous night once Kurt's parents had driven off and Blaine's mom retrieved a bottle of white wine from the kitchen.

"So, Blaine told me what's going on. You sure you don't want to back out before shit hits the fan?" his mom asked Kurt bluntly, after handing both of them a generously filled glass.

Blaine turned to Kurt, who was picking at his nails when he thought no one was looking. "I'd understand, Kurt, if you wanted to back out. I mean, I liked Santana's idea, but I can just give an interview or tweet something."

Kurt squared his shoulders and shook his head. "Hell no. I'm not going to let escort barbie blackmail you. No one deserves to be outed, whether they're famous or not. And she's made it pretty clear that even if you don't see me anymore and come out, she's still going to try to make your life miserable."

Blaine didn't say it out loud, but he was relieved. Because even though Kurt wasn't really his boyfriend, he'd become a good friend in the short amount of time they'd known each other, and while he had friends he'd known longer and was closer with, none of them really understood what he was going through. They had accepted him so easily and it was difficult for them to understand that not everyone would react the same way or that his coming out, if done wrong, could seriously hurt his career. He didn't want to be remembered as the guy who was on Loser Like Me and had a promising career before he was caught with his pants down with an underaged twink in the men's bathroom of an L.A gay bar. Okay, the reality wasn't that bad because he could at least assume, that unless the guys had had fake IDs, he hadn't hooked up with anyone under eighteen. And he'd been in a stall, the two or three times he'd gotten a blowjob in a men's bathroom. There really shouldn't exist any pictures of his indiscretions.

"Well, good," his mom agreed. "Blaine will need all the support he can get. And you make a good looking couple," she added with a wink before taking a long drag from her glass. Kurt turned bright red.

The rest of the evening consisted of getting drunk on white wine with his mom, while she told Kurt embarrassing childhood stories that had Blaine squirming in the seat he was still sharing with Kurt, even though there was enough space for them on the couch now. His mom had commented earlier that they were adorable and so they had stayed as they were.

Before Cooper left for his date, Blaine got up to talk to his brother. "You remember the rules, Coop. What don't you do under any circumstance?"

"Bring her here," Cooper sighed. "Because we don't want your fans to find out where mom lives, especially when you're here too."

Good," Blaine nodded. His mom's privacy had always been important to him and because his brother often used Blaine's name to pick up girls, he was forbidden to bring anyone who wasn't a long term girlfriend to his mom's home.

Back in the living room, his mom had brought out his baby albums and Blaine groaned while Kurt cooed over his pictures.

"I guess you always liked the spot light," Kurt teased, pointing at a picture of him and Cooper. Blaine was four and Cooper fourteen. Both had a microphone stand in front of them, rocking out to some music.

"They were really into Duran Duran back then," Pam laughed and Blaine snatched the album out of her hand. Maybe, if Kurt actually was his boyfriend, it wouldn't bother him so much so see his mom and Kurt bond over his baby pictures, but knowing that it was very likely that he and Kurt would never be more than friends, it somehow irked him.

Fortunately, it was time for dinner, and Blaine could use this as an excuse for taking the album away. They'd ordered Chinese, because Blaine was helpless in the kitchen and his mom was more than tipsy already. It seemed like the safer option. During dinner, the focus shifted to Kurt and Blaine was relieved when his mom started to ask Kurt all kinds of questions. He learned a lot about his new friend in the hours they were sitting with his mom. He learned that Kurt had wanted to go to Dalton when the bullying in school had gotten unbearable, but his family couldn't afford it. He learned that Kurt never officially came out in high school, but everyone had always assumed. He learned that at the beginning of his junior year of high school, Kurt had gone on a date with a boy named Chandler who had attended Lima's other high school. They'd been seen by some football players from Kurt's school who had promptly outed Kurt to the whole school. The bullying had gotten so bad afterward that Kurt had been homeschooled for the rest of his junior year and had only returned to school after his chief tormentors had graduated. He learned that Carole who'd only been married to Kurt's dad for a month at the time, had quit her job at the library, so Kurt could do home schooling. Since then, Kurt had been saving up so someday he could give his parents the honeymoon they had given up for him. All of this made him like Kurt even more and Blaine wondered what he could do to change Kurt's mind about actually dating him. Thanks to Kurt's friend Santana, he knew that Kurt had had a crush on him before they met and he was pretty sure that Kurt still liked him as Blaine caught Kurt looking at him from time to time when he thought Blaine wasn't paying attention. It was just too bad that he couldn't ask his mom for advice because she, like Cooper, thought they'd already been dating for weeks.

Later that night in Blaine's old bedroom, they set up an air mattress next to Blaine's bed. Kurt had told his mom that he'd be happy to stay on the couch as there were only three bedrooms, but his mom had insisted that she was totally cool with Kurt staying in Blaine's room. So, they'd decided on the air mattress. Blaine had offered Kurt the bed, but the other boy had declined.

"Thanks to you, I can sort of sleep in tomorrow, so I'm not taking your bed."

Blaine didn't offer to share the bed with Kurt, because he could tell how uncomfortable he already was just being in Blaine's bedroom for the night. They took turns in the bathroom and when Blaine came out, teeth brushed and changed into a set of PJs he hadn't worn in years, Kurt was already buried under a mountain of blankets, only his head peaking out. He was feigning sleep and though Blaine was pretty sure Kurt was faking, he didn't call him out on it and got into his bed. He turned off his bedside lamp and whispered a 'good night' in Kurt's direction. He wasn't surprised when he didn't get an answer.

* * *

Back in L.A, Ari buried him with work. Every day, he or Santana had to accompany their boss to meetings with clients where their main job was to keep Ari and the client happy. He met people who were such horrible divas that Kurt really appreciated that the first celebrity he met had been Blaine, who was genuinely nice and down to earth even though he lived in a mansion with his entourage.

On the third day back from Ohio, Santana showed up at work an hour late, her eyes red-rimmed. Fortunately, Ari wasn't in yet because Mrs. Ari was dragging him to an event at their oldest son's school.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked immediately, but Santana tried to wave him off.

"What, you've never seen anyone who has allergies. It's spring, Kurt," she said sarcastically, while she tried to refresh her make up with a small pocket mirror.

"Inside," Kurt challenged her. "And I've know you six years, San, the only things you're allergic to are strawberries."

Santana just ignored him, but Kurt was sure he'd get the story from her eventually. He wasn't wrong. After work, he dragged her to a bar close to Santana's apartment. He didn't want her to drive once they started drinking. It took three tequila shots for Santana to open up.

"Lucy broke up with me this morning," she admitted.

"I'm sorry. But is this good news or bad news?" Kurt asked. "Will this be an 'I need ice cream because I miss her already' kind of night, or a 'let's get wasted to celebrate the bitch is gone' kind of thing?"

"She dumped me, so probably both," Santana admitted. "Good news, she dumped me before she actually cheated on me, but she had met someone she developed feelings for. She's moving to New York for that woman, when with us, just moving in together was too much of a hassle," Santana hissed and Kurt flagged down a waiter to order another round of Tequila shots. They'd probably both pay for it the next morning, but right now, Tequila sounded like a great idea.

"I'm really sorry, San, but hey, look on the bright side. At least you don't have to find a new apartment."

Santana gave him a scathing look. "You've really never been in a relationship or gotten your heart broken. I loved her, Kurt, and I really wanted us to live together. Really, the only bright side is that she didn't cheat on me and tried to hide it."

Her words hurt, but he knew they were true. He had absolutely no experience with those kinds of things. He'd never been in a relationship unless you counted the awkward three months with Chandler during which they'd kissed once - at a party during spin the bottle. The most embarrassing thing had been, when Kurt had broken up with him and Chandler had told him he didn't think they were even dating, because Kurt never seemed really into him. Chandler had been right of course; Kurt had liked him well enough as a friend but there was no spark. They only reason why Kurt had wanted to date him in the first place, was because for once, he wanted to be just like the rest of his classmates. He wanted to have a boyfriend and unfortunately, apart from Chandler, who he'd met at music store, no one seemed to be interested or was brave enough to show interest. He didn't know what it was like to get dumped after a long term relationship, he'd never lived with a significant other and while it hurt when his crushes never liked him back, it probably didn't compare to the sort of heartbreak Santana had experienced more than once already. It made it hard to give advice, and Kurt didn't get why his friends still came to him, when he had nothing to offer. All he could do was get wasted with whoever was heartbroken and let them cry into his shoulder. It was all he was good for.

The tequila started to affect him too and Kurt swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. Tonight was about Santana and though she'd hit a nerve, he had to be the one to console her and not start crying himself.

"You're right. I don't know how you're feeling, so tell me. What can I do to make things better."

Santana looked at him through slightly blood shot eyes. "Can you just hold me for a bit?"

Kurt wasn't a hugger, but that was something he could do for her.

* * *

Blaine spent the next three weeks helping his mom paint the rooms upstairs, taking down all the curtains for spring cleaning and going through his old wardrobe to see if there were any clothes he could donate to a local shelter. He also texted Kurt a lot because life back in Ohio was boring. It'd been years since he stayed with his mom this long and Blaine was going stir crazy. He was afraid to go out too much, because he didn't want the press to find out where he was and he was always paranoid about fans finding out where he lived in Ohio. Cooper had flown back to L.A after only one weekend, citing that he had to get ready for a shoot and his mom had gone back to work after taking a week off to spend more time with her son.

A week after he got to Ohio, Rebecca Quinn called.

"It's been a week, Blaine. What's it going to be?" she demanded.

Blaine was glad she couldn't see his face. It made what he had to say to her a lot easier.

"You were right. I should be with you. After all, you're the hottest girl on the show and I'd be stupid not to give you a shot."

"Great," Rebecca said, but Blaine could tell his answer had surprised her. "But what about the guy."

"Just a phase," Blaine dismissed Kurt. "He was an experiment, nothing more." He was lying, but the lies hurt like hell.

'So I can tell my publicist to set up a press release?" Rebecca asked and Blaine shook his head, before remembering that she couldn't see him.

"Only under the condition that we wait until the show is over. I'll make a statement during my Q&A after the finale, okay."

"Perfect," Rebecca replied. "But don't you want me there for it?"

Fortunately, flattery got you everywhere with Rebecca Quinn. "Becca, I'm sure if you were there, we'd break the internet. Let me tell my fans first and then we take on the rest of the world."

"Fine," she agreed. "When can I see you?"

"I'm visiting family at moment," Blaine said apologetically. "But I'll be back for the finale. We can get together after," he promised, knowing that it would only happen if hell froze over.

Rebecca was satisfied though. Blaine waited till after she'd hung up to text his entourage and Kurt about the development. So far everything was going according to plan.

* * *

"So, how does this work?" Kurt asked while Blaine set up his laptop next to the iMac in Wes and David's office. The actor shrugged.

"My friend Lauren, who's magic when it comes to computers, will come over later to set everything up. We'll use the camera on Wes' computer to record me while I talk about filming the last episode and then the fans can either Skype me or send questions on Twitter. I'll pick the ones I want to answer and Wes will take the Skype calls first to make sure no one too crazy gets to talk to me," Blaine explained.

"And what if no one asks about you and Rebecca?"

Blaine laughed. "Trust me, someone will. Someone always asks because apparently a lot of fans ship me with her; they even gave us a ship name."

"Really?" Kurt asked. "But you're real people. I get that fictional couples get names because it makes talking about them faster and easier, but real people. What is it?"

"Raine," Blaine sighed.

Kurt sniggered before he froze. "Do you think people will give us a name if they figure out who I am? What would it be? Gosh, I hope it's not Blurt, it sounds way too much like Burt."

Blaine chuckled. "As a huge Nirvana fan, I'd prefer KurtCoBlaine." His expression sobered. "But I doubt anyone would give two men a ship name."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You don't give your fans enough credit. I'm sure a lot of 'Marker' fans are also 'Matric' fans who wont have a problem with you dating men. Heck, I was a fan of yours even though I hated Parker and Madison's relationship."

"It really wasn't the healthiest of relationships," Blaine agreed. "But the fans loved it and the network insisted that Ben wont break us up. To be quiet honest, I think he started to write wackier and wackier stories for them to piss off the network execs. He told me once, that his plan had been to only have them dating during season one before Parker starts questioning his sexuality. Apparently, the network told him that they would cancel the show if it went in that direction."

"You've got to be kidding me," Kurt gasped. "You premiered pretty much the same time as The O.C. Marissa got to be a lesbian for a couple of episodes, why couldn't Parker experiment."

"Sweeps," Blaine sighed. "You wanna boost your ratings, have some random girl on girl action during sweeps. Just make sure that there are no feelings involved, the girls are both super hot and go back to dating guys after sweeps are over. And don't ever try the same with two guys. You never let two guys kiss on TV during sweeps," Blaine explained.

"Huh," Kurt said. "I mean, we talked about those things in college, but I hoped that things had changed since I took that class on TV production. That really sucks. I'd have loved a Parker questioning himself storyline."

"Me too," Blaine admitted, before he turned back to the screen in front of him and logged into his twitter account. There were a few messages from fans who were asking for the link to his livestream and Blaine quickly composed a new tweet where he reposted the link for everyone who had missed his previous post.

"You think she's going to watch it?" Kurt asked, peering over his shoulder. He didn't have to specify what she he meant.

"Definitely. After all, she's expecting me to make an announcement about our relationship."

"She's going to be really angry," Kurt remarked, but Blaine shrugged.

"She'd have been pissed no matter what way I did it. And if she already told people about us, well then that's her problem. I told her not to say anything until after LLM was done."

He was scared shitless, but tried not to show it. With the way Kurt was looking at him, he didn't think he was successful though. Before they could talk about it however, the intercom buzzed signaling Lauren's arrival. The final episode was about to air on the west coast and it was time to set up the Q&A.

Blaine and Kurt settled in front of the large plasma TV in the living room with his friends and Cooper while Lauren worked upstairs. Even though he was glad to be done with the show, he also felt a bit nostalgic as he watched the sets that had been struck down a few weeks earlier. Those halls had been his home for the past five years and as ready as he was to move on, he still felt sad that they were gone, making room for a new TV show premiering in the fall. Blaine hadn't been there the day the sets had been struck, but he'd been there the day before to pick up a souvenir. All the cast members were allowed to keep a few things, and Blaine had opted to take his school blazer and tie and the bean bag chair from his dorm room.

Together, they watched as Parker and Madison walked down the aisle while Matthew and Eric shared a look in the back. When Eric turned to Matthew and whispered into his ear that he hoped they would get to have a wedding one day as well, Blaine wasn't the only one with tears in his eyes. There had been a brief window during which he could have gotten married in L.A, but that was before Prop 8 had taken it away again. Not that he would have even if he'd been in a steady, long term relationship because he didn't want to get married until everyone person in America had the same rights regardless of where they lived. Maybe he'd change his tune if things still hadn't improved in ten years, but for now this was his plan.

As the final credits rolled, Blaine, Wes and Kurt relocated upstairs.

"Everything's ready," Lauren announced. "You tell me when and I'll start the stream."

Blaine took a seat in front of Wes' computer and gave Lauren the go ahead. In a little window in the right bottom corner he could see what his webcam was recording. He smiled his most dazzling smile and waved into the camera.

"Hi guys. I'm happy you could join me here. This is my first live Q&A so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will go well. So, I promised that I'm going to talk a bit about filming the final episode and then you can ask me questions either by using the hashtag BDAlive on twitter or you can Skype me. I'm BDALLM." It was the Skype name Lauren had set up for this session. "Unfortunately, we'll only have an hour because it's pretty late already on the east coast and I want all my fans to be able to watch this and not just those who can sleep in on a Tuesday," he winked. "So, yeah, don't be disappointed if I don't pick your question. I'll try to answer all of them on Twitter over the next couple of days."

Underneath the video was the number of viewers which was steadily climbing. Blaine had had no idea that so many people would be interested in what he had to say.

"So, ah, let's get to filming the last episode. It was very emotional as you can probably imagine, especially because we knew that the studio would strike the sets two days after we finished filming. If you've seen our 'Behind the scenes' videos you know that we had the large auditorium where the glee club performed, we had a class room for all the classes the cast had to attend, which was always decorated according to the subject we were being taught. We had the dorm room Parker shared with Eric. We had Madison's room and Matthew's room. And we had the library which was my favorite set," Blaine rambled on. He felt like he was talking to himself, even though he knew that thousands were watching at this point. On his laptop, he could see that people were already asking him questions. He decided to jump right in and answer one.

"I can see on twitter that quite a lot of you want to know if I took anything from the set," he said. "And yes I did. I took my St. Andrews blazer and tie and the bean bag chair Parker had in his room. Everyone was allowed to take a few things as long as they were props that had been bought for the show. But unfortunately, I don't know what the others took, so you're going to have to ask them yourselves if you are interested."

From behind the screen, Kurt was mouthing 'you're doing great' and it helped him relax a little.

"We shot Parker and Madison's wedding the last day of filming which was great because it meant that the whole cast was there. Though we had to break a couple of times, because people kept starting to cry," he chuckled. "Me included, I have to admit. Just knowing that this was the last time we'd all be together, maybe forever, made us all really weepy. But we managed to wrap before midnight and then we had an unofficial wrap party in the auditorium. I think Jesse posted a couple of pictures on his twitter."

More and more questions were sent his way and Wes signaled that he had also picked a not crazy Skype caller. Though his hands shook, he decided to take it.

"My friend Wes tells me, I have a call from Patrick from St. Paul," he announced and accepted Wes' laptop from him. A guy, who looked to be in his early twenties, waved at him shyly.

"Hi Blaine, thanks for taking my call," he said and Blaine gave him a dazzling smile.

"No problem. What's your question Patrick?"

"So, um, there's been talks about a LLM movie a year ago or so and I know you probably can't tell me whether it's happening or not, but if you wrote the script, what would you like to see happening."

'Good one,' Blaine thought. Now that he knew that the movie wasn't happening - at least not in the near future, it could be fun to speculate. He also knew that he couldn't say anything bad about 'Marker', unfortunately.

"I don't know if you've already seen the previews for that movie The Hangover, but I'd love to do something similar with Matthew and Eric, where one of them gets spectacularly drunk the night before their wedding and the St. Andrew's crew has to band together once more to make sure both boys get to the wedding on time. It would be set in the future for obvious reasons, but yeah, that sounds like fun. I'd love to do that."

He didn't tell Patrick though, that he'd originally auditioned for Eric. After signing with Terrance, his new agent had convinced the creator to consider Blaine for the lead instead. Blaine hadn't found out until much later that Terrance hadn't wanted him to play gay on TV and had lied about Blaine only auditioning for Eric because he thought he wasn't the right fit for Parker. Terrance had been convinced that playing Eric would ruin Blaine's career from the start. Ironically, it was Jesse, who'd gotten cast as Eric instead, who'd won a Golden Globe for his portrayal while Blaine had never even been nominated.

"I'll have to check it out when it's out," Patrick promised and Blaine turned his attention back to the questions on twitter.

For the next twenty minutes he answered his fans' questions, told some anecdotes about filming LLM and spoke to a few fans on Skype. But then suddenly, Wes was gesticulating wildly. It was clear to Blaine what he meant. His friend and manager had found the girl who wanted to talk about his relationship with Rebecca Quinn. Blaine turned back to the camera.

"I'm going to take another Skype call now. It's from Maggie from Sacramento. Go ahead Maggie," he smiled his most charming smile.

A teenaged girl came into view. When she realized that she was now talking to Blaine, she shrieked.

"Oh gosh, I can't believe it's really you. I love you so much." After realizing what she'd just said, she slapped a hand over her mouth, looking horrified. "I'm so sorry. I'm really nervous."

"Don't worry," Blaine smiled. "I also get super nervous when I meet celebrities I like," he added with a wink. The girl pretty much swooned. "So, what did you want to ask me, Maggie."

"Oh, I, so, Parker and Madison are my favorite couple on Loser Like Me." Blaine nodded encouragingly. "And I have a friend who goes to L.A with her parents a lot and she saw you at a restaurant with Rebecca Quinn and I just wanted to ask, if you're dating her, because that would be really awesome."

And there it was. He could still back out and make another joke about him and Rebecca or he could stick to the plan and finally be free. Blaine chose to chuckle.

"I don't think my boyfriend would like that very much. He's not a fan of polygamy even though he watches Big Love religiously."

A hand slipped into his out of frame and squeezed it tightly. When Kurt tried to pull it away again, Blaine held on as he watched the girl's jaw drop.

"You have a boyfriend?" she asked, clearly shocked by his revelation. Blaine nearly felt bad for what he said next, but he wanted his fans to believe that this was nothing new.

"Oh, you didn't know," he said, feigning surprise. "Oh well, we haven't been together too long but he's a great guy and my friends on the show love him." Okay, maybe this was an exaggeration, but at least everyone but Rebecca had gotten along great with Kurt at his party. "But that's nothing compared to my mom; she can't stop talking about him."

The girl regained her composure quickly and was now fishing for a scoop. "So, is he anyone we know? Did you meet on Loser Like Me?"

Blaine shook his head. "No one from the show. We've only met recently. But thanks for calling and I hope you're not too mad that 'Raine' is not going to happen." The girl's eyes nearly budged out of their sockets, when Blaine casually mentioned the ship name. He ended the call, before he gave her an aneurysm or something.

Meanwhile, the internet exploded and his name was suddenly trending on Twitter.

Nr1RaineFan: Did BlaineAnderson really just say what I thought he said on #BDAlive

Raine4ever: Nr1RaineFan I heard it too :( It's a dark day for our fandom

A quick google search revealed however, that the big news outlets and gossip magazines hadn't picked up on his news yet. He was certain though that by the next morning, Chris Snoop or No TMI would be reporting about it. All he had to do now was wait for Rebecca to make her move.

The next questions he got on twitter were all about his boyfriend; people asking for a name or a picture, about how they'd met and how long they'd been together. Most were positive, but Blaine's face still fell when a homophobe tweeted him.

BLangdon: BlaineAnderson. U R a dirty faggot. Can't believe I let my daughter watch your faggy show.

Blaine tried not to let his hurt show as he told his fans another anecdote about his last day of filming, pointedly ignoring all questions about his private life. But when he saw that his fans were cyber tearing the guy a new one, he couldn't help but smile.

He ended the hour by singing the show's anthem Loser Like Me, before he signaled Lauren to end the stream. As soon as he was sure he wasn't live anymore, he let his friends pull him into a tight group hug.

"I'm really proud of you, squirt," Cooper told him. "What ever happens next, you did great tonight."

The only one who hadn't joined the hug was Kurt and Blaine turned to his friends and Cooper. "Can I have a moment with Kurt."

They all nodded and left.

"So what did you think?" he asked once they were alone.

"What your brother said. You were really brave going through with it," Kurt smiled at him. "I'm not sure if I'd been brave enough to do the same if I was in your shoes."

"Come here," Blaine opened his arms to Kurt, who tentatively accepted the hug. "I think after what you went through in high school, you're plenty brave. I'm not sure I would have agreed to the same deal if I had experienced the kind of homophobic bullying you have," he admitted.

"But you've been bullied too. You told me about that school dance," Kurt argued, but Blaine shook his head.

"I didn't get punched because my class mates thought I was gay, they attacked me because I went to the dance with a friend who was getting bullied because people assumed he was gay. I just wanted to take a stand against people mistreating him. Ironically, he's totally straight and recently got married to a girl he met his first year in college."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, he didn't look or dress like the rest of his peers."

"I think the term today is metrosexual," Blaine joked.

He felt so much lighter now that the truth was finally out and joking around with Kurt distracted him from whatever would happen next.

"What I was trying to say before is thanks for doing this with me. This could have been a terrible experience, but knowing you're by my side, has made things a lot easier," Blaine confessed.

Kurt's cheeks turned bright red and he cleared his throat a few times before he replied. "Glad I can help. I should head home now though, cause Ari has called an early meeting tomorrow to monitor how the press' reacting to your statement."

Not wanting to make Kurt even more uncomfortable than he already seemed to be, Blaine just nodded with a smile. "Talk to you or Ari tomorrow then."

"Yeah," Kurt whispered before he pretty much bolted from the room.

'Stupid, stupid,' Blaine berated himself. He really needed to stop putting Kurt on the spot like that. Only problem was that he really liked Kurt and would do anything to convince him to give real dating a chance.

* * *

 **Breaking News: LLM Star Blaine Anderson comes out as gay -**

 **Anonymous source reveals the actor's colorful past**

By Chris Snoop

The actor revealed this juicy bit of information to his fans in a live Q&A following Monday's airing of the finale episode of Loser Like Me. Asked about whether he and his co star Rebecca Quinn were also dating in real life the actor said, "I don't think my boyfriend would like that very much." He didn't reveal much about who this mysterious boyfriend was, only that the relationship was fairly new and that they hadn't met at work. Fan responses were mostly positive after the reveal, though the actor also received some nasty homophobic tweets after his Q&A. When contacted about the story, the actor's management stated that they would not comment on Blaine's personal life and it was up to Blaine to tell us more about his mystery man.

 **Scandalous pictures of the actor's past**

In another development, an anonymous source sent TMZ pictures of the actor's allegedly sordid past only an hour after Blaine's coming out. As someone who'd known about Blaine's sexuality for a while and had even met him a couple of times during nights out, I see nothing scandalous in the pictures, but form your own opinion.

Blaine Anderson Gay Bar Pictures

 **Support from fans and coworkers**

As mentioned above, Blaine's fans took to twitter to show their support for the actor, though some voiced disappointment or called his coming out a publicity stunt because they'd believed Blaine was dating co-star Rebecca Quinn. But Blaine's fans weren't the only ones taking to twitter to show their support. Some of his former costars tweeted how much happier the actor was since he met his new beau. The actor thanked his fans early this morning for their support.

BlaineAnderson: Thanks everyone for your supportive messages. Though I wasn't aware that this was surprising news, I really appreciate all the love that's been sent my way.

During his livestream, the actor insisted that his sexuality had not been a secret. Because he'd never made a public statement before, a lot of people immediately assumed he'd been in the closet. However, Blaine never disguised himself when he was out and about in Boyztown. The assumption is understandable though. After all, no one had reported on Blaine's sexuality before, myself included because I thought he was closeted and had learned my lesson about not outing celebrities.

 **Angry ex-boyfriend?**

But not everyone appears to be happy for the actor. In addition to homophobic tweets, someone seems intent on smearing Blaine's reputation by releasing compromising pictures of his past. At the moment, we can only speculate that maybe a former lover had released the pictures out of jealousy. No one has come forward though to claim responsibility for 'Blainegate' as the actor's fans are calling it. We'll keep you updated as the story develops.


	11. The Fallout

**'THE FALLOUT'**

 **Blaine Anderson's mystery man uncovered -**

 **What do we know about him so far?**

 _by Levi Jenkins_

It started with an anonymous tip, likely from the same person who, for the past two days, has been flooding us with pictures of the actor's gay bar exploits. The source revealed that Blaine's mystery man was named Kurt and grew up in Ohio like the Loser Like Me alumn. After a little digging, we discovered a blog dedicated to former students of William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. A Kurt H. featured prominently in many videos on the blog and I emailed the source for conformation that Kurt H. is Blaine's Kurt. We can now confirm that Blaine Anderson is dating Lima native Kurt H. If you'd like to check him out, click here. Be advised that many videos contain homophobic language.

 **What do we know so far?**

Kurt H. graduated from high school in 2004,2 years after Blaine.

He grew up 2 hours south of Westerville, Blaine's hometown.

He attended the University of California Los Angeles from which he graduated in 2008.

He lives in L.A.

 **What we don't know yet?**

What's Kurt's full name?

What does he look like now?

What does he do? Aspiring actor?

How did Kurt and Blaine meet? How serious is their relationship?

What does Kurt expect to get out of it?

Who's behind Blainegate and why?

If you have answers to those questions, please email me at or speculate in the comments.

* * *

"I can't believe they found out this much about me in two days," Kurt groaned and clicked out of another article speculating about him. He was hiding out at Santana's place since the first article about him had appeared a few hours earlier and his roommates had cottoned on to the face that roommate Kurt was the Kurt dating Blaine Anderson.

"At least they're only speculating about you. Have you read some of the articles conservative papers wrote about Blaine?"

Kurt shook his head. He hadn't gone out of his way looking for articles about Blaine because he knew that not all of them could be positive.

"Well, they're basically talking about how he pretended to be a role model for teens, while in fact, he's a pervert corrupting youth by using his celebrity," Santana summed up what she read.

"Oh come on," Kurt threw his hands in the air. "The pictures really aren't so bad. I expected worse."

Santana shrugged. "I agree, but Rebecca released the ones with him and a lot of young guys who looked like they were still in their teens. Some people are using this against him."

"But he's only twenty - five now. It's not like he's a fifty year old trolling the gay bars for barely legals."

"You don't need to convince me, Kurt. But people who don't like that he's gay would make an issue out of any pictures, even if he and the guys could prove they're exactly the same age."

Kurt knew she was right. People who decided to hate Blaine after his coming out, would always find things that 'justified' their hatred. He'd seen a few tweets starting with, 'I'm not homophobic, but' and whatever came after the but was nearly always homophobic. Others called him a bad influence because Blaine was caught drinking underage and smoking in some of the pictures. Fortunately, Blaine never smoked weed in public which Kurt knew the actor did occasionally, so no one was using his name in PSAs against drug use yet. He guessed that the only reason why Rebecca hadn't released pictures from Blaine's private parties was because it would be easier to narrow down who was responsible for all the pictures if very private ones showed up. Anyone smart enough to smuggle his camera phone into the clubs Blaine frequented could have taken the pictures in the clubs, but you'd have to belong to Blaine's inner circle to get pictures inside his home.

"How's he doing with all this?" Santana brought him back to the present and Kurt shrugged.

"We haven't really spoken since the reveal because he's busy dealing with his team. And I can't go over to his place right now. The paps are outside his gate."

"You wanna see him?" Santana asked, giving him a knowing look which Kurt chose to ignore. "Because I can smuggle you in in one of the company cars. Ari's busy with Vincent Chase but I'm sure he'd like an update on his client," she schemed.

Blaine had texted that he was fine, but Kurt thought all this couldn't be easy on him. Rebecca's daily photo releases. The interview a former hook up had given in which the guy said Blaine had plied the then underage college student with alcohol before he tried to seduce him. The negative articles about his lose morals. He'd like to be there for his friend, but he wasn't ready to face the paparazzi just yet. They'd decided that when they went public they would do it together and on their own terms. Until then, Blaine wouldn't confirm that he was dating Kurt or give the tabloids Kurt's name.

"I'll text him and see if he wants to see me tomorrow," he decided and quickly messaged the actor.

After, Santana took away his laptop and company phone so he couldn't check the internet for stories about him and Blaine any longer.

"Tonight, we'll forget about it all and tomorrow, we'll see if our old principal isn't finally ready to remove the videos now that media has discovered them. They do show his school in a very bad light, after all."

"I'd love that," Kurt hiccuped. As long as the videos documenting the bullying he'd experienced in school were still out there, he felt like he could never fully leave his past behind. There was nothing he could do about the newspaper articles about the incident, but he just hoped that no one would stoop so low and released them should they come across them.

* * *

 **Blaine Anderson is not the only deviant in the family - Cooper Anderson's secret life as porn actor 'Magic Mike'**

The Christian Daily

For years, Cooper Anderson was known as the less successful of the Anderson brothers. His only accomplishment were a string of cheesy advertisements for Free Credit Rating Today dot com. On IMDb he only had one other credit, a guest appearance on his younger brother's TV showLoser Like Me, where he played Parker Sinclair's older brother James. If you look up 'Magic Mike', it shows a different picture; more than fifty movies are credited to the actor. No one mentioned Anderson's 'career' when his younger brother was discovered five years ago, and we can only assume that Blaine's fans were left in the dark on purpose. Which self-respecting parent would have allowed their child to watch Loser Like Me had they known what the brother of one of its stars did for a living. Now, some argue that the LLM alumn may not have been aware of his brother's behavior, but we doubt that Cooper could have hidden something so big from his brother. After all, it's public knowledge that the brothers share a house in Beverly Hills. No, this was a deliberate attempt to hide from the public what we know now. That both Andersons lead a perverted life and should be kept away from children. I know that mine won't watch a production featuring Blaine Anderson again. Will yours? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.

* * *

Kurt read the newest article on the way to Blaine's house. Santana had borrowed a car with tinted windows from the company car pool so she could driven him onto Blaine's property without the paparazzi seeing him. It was okay if they speculated someone else was also in the car as long as they didn't see him. Sure, he didn't look all too different than what he'd looked like when he was eighteen, but he had changed. He'd finally had a growth spurt his first year in college, growing four inches. He'd lost his remaining baby fat when he'd grown so quickly, he went to the gym at least once a week and his hair was styled differently. He'd also had surgery because of a broken nose which had changed it a bit. In high school, he wore clothes meant to help him blend in, opposed to the expensive suits he wore to work and the tight jeans and shirts he wore in his free time. If people looked closely, he was sure they could tell that he was the boy from the gossip sites, but only if they looked closely.

The group of paparazzi in front of Blaine's house had shrunk considerably, but three guys were still waiting for a sighting of the actor. Santana blew them a kiss as she rung the bell and Kurt sank deeper into his seat. He kept his head down until Santana cut the engine in front of Blaine's house. The actor opened the door and for once, Kurt initiated a hug.

"You okay? I just read what some moron wrote about you and Cooper."

"Cooper's furious," Blaine admitted. "Because they said I should be kept away from kids."

"You know that's not true, right. Being gay doesn't make you a pedophile," Kurt exclaimed, because he couldn't believe the nerve of that so called journalist.

To his surprise, Blaine smiled. "I know, Kurt. And Shauna's already threatened to sue him for defamation of character if he doesn't take down the article."

Together, he and Santana followed Blaine into the house. Cooper, Blaine's entourage and the dizzy blonde from Blaine's party were sitting on the living room couches.

"Kurt, you remember Brittany. She's helping me with some moves for my finial audition for Bare. Brittany, this is Kurt's friend Santana."

"Hi, hi," Santana stammered and Kurt looked at her in confusion. Santana never got nervous in front of a girl.

"Hi Kurt, hi Santana," Brittany waved. "I like your dress," she added and Santana turned an interesting shade of red.

Kurt decided that he had to ask Blaine about Brittany's preferences once they were alone. He'd had too many crushes on straight boys and he didn't want Santana to go through the same thing if Brittany was straight.

"So, you got a call back?" Kurt turned to Blaine. "That's great!"

Blaine beamed at him. "Yeah, they called me this morning."

"Who'd they cast as Jason?" Kurt asked. Blaine was auditioning for the Hollywood Bowl's production of Bare: A Pop Opera. Kurt thought he'd make an amazing Peter. Blaine made a face.

"Sebastian Smythe."

"That wannabe pop star?" Kurt asked. "Why?"

Blaine sighed. "His dad's directing this year."

Sebastian Smythe was the son of Broadway director Jim Smythe and model Jill Sawyers. As a child, he'd been part of the Mickey Mouse club, but he hadn't achieved fame through his roles. He was infamous for getting his first DUI at age fifteen, when he'd taken his parents' car out for a joyride after a house party. By age eighteen, he'd been to court mandated rehab twice. And now, at age twenty, he was trying to start a career as a pop star. An openly gay pop star. Paparazzi had caught him in the act with a politician's son two years ago, but he had benefited from the forced outing.

Kurt hadn't been aware that Sebastian had any interest in musical theater - if he had his dad would surely had already gotten him some roles - but maybe he needed the publicity before his first album was set to come out in the fall.

"Have you met him before?" Kurt asked, remembering the face Blaine had made when he'd said Sebastian's name. The actor nodded.

"Last year at an Emmy's after party. He came up to me and told me it's too bad he can't do closet cases anymore, because otherwise he'd have me down on my knees before the door to the bathroom closed behind us. Didn't believe me when I told him I wasn't interested."

"And you still wanna be in the show with him?" Kurt wondered. Blaine shrugged.

"It's a great role. And hey, they're broken up for most of the show anyway," he added with a wink.

"Dating an actor can be hard," Cooper informed him. "You always need to remember that it's only acting and at the end of the day you're the one he's coming home to. My girlfriends never got that."

"You're in porn, Coop. So not the same as me kissing a few people on TV," Blaine rolled his eyes. "And it's only a few performances if I get it. It's not like I have to kiss him eight times a week for months. If I even get it."

While everyone assured Blaine that he was the best choice, Santana took a seat next to Brittany and Kurt watched as the two giggled over something. Her breakup with her ex wasn't too long ago and Kurt hoped his friend knew what she was doing.

* * *

"Thanks Blaine, that was great," Jim Smythe told him after he finished singing 'Best Kept Secret' with Sebastian.

"He's definitely the best I've seen. Can't we just make it official," Sebastian turned to his dad.

Everyone knew his parents had spoiled him rotten and Blaine wasn't surprised when Jim nodded.

"I like you and Sebastian likes you. Welcome on board, Blaine. My assistant will contact your people about the rehearsal schedule. See you soon." With a wave, Jim left him alone with Sebastian.

"I'm really glad you're going to be the Peter to my Jason," Sebastian drawled. "We'll be the hottest couple to have ever played them."

Blaine laughed because Sebastian was just so full of it. He took a swig from his water bottle and unlocked his phone to read a text from Kurt asking about the outcome of his audition.

"I think you and I should celebrate. Tomorrow night. There's this party at LaRue I've been invited to. Now that you've finally clawed your way out of the closet we should get to know each other better. I'm a big fan of method acting," Sebastian tried again and Blaine put his phone back into his bag. He'd call Kurt later and tell him the good news.

"I have a boyfriend," he reminded Sebastian.

"Doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you. And from what I read about you, you're not the monogamous type."

"I'm not a cheater, Sebastian," Blaine hissed. He had never cheated on anyone. Granted, he'd never been a relationship so he'd never even had the opportunity to cheat on a significant other.

"I'm sorry." Sebastian raised his hands in surrender. "But you gotta admit, it'd be easier if you were with someone like you, someone who won't be eaten alive the first time he runs into the paps."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "You don't even know Kurt. He can handle himself."

"You're right," Sebastian smiled. "Bring him along. After all, he should get to know the guy his boyfriend is going to spend a lot of time with."

Suddenly, Blaine wasn't so happy about his new role anymore. "I'll ask him." From what he knew about Kurt so far, he'd probably, hopefully, say no.

In his car, he dialed Kurt's number and recounted his meeting with Sebastian.

"What a jerk," Kurt muttered. "But why not. I'm sick and tired of guys like him thinking they can belittle me because I'll just take it lying down anyway."

It was not the answer Blaine had hoped for, but he had to trust that Kurt really could handle himself when faced with a guy like Sebastian.

* * *

The next night, Kurt got ready for the party at Santana's. She'd convinced him to wear his tightest pair of jeans and a body hugging shirt with the top three buttons undone. At the moment, she was applying some eyeliner to his eyes, after she'd done his hair. Even he had to admit that he looked hot.

Blaine, driven by Jeff, picked him up shortly before ten and his jaw dropped when Kurt climbed into the car. He recovered quickly though and complemented Kurt on his outfit. Blaine looked great as well. He'd also opted for jeans that were tighter than the ones he usually wore and Kurt could tell he'd used some product on his normally unruly curls.

When they arrived in front of LaRue, a relatively new gay bar, there was a long line of hopefuls forming outside, and to Kurt's chagrin also a group of paparazzi. He knew he shouldn't be surprised as they were attending a well known DJs thirtieth birthday party.

"You ready for this?" Blaine asked when he also spotted the paparazzi. Kurt nodded.

"I knew it'd happen eventually. At least I'm not shopping for groceries in sweatpants," he joked. Blaine raised an eyebrow in question.

"You go shopping in sweatpants?"

"It may have happened once or twice," Kurt admitted. Once people knew who he was, he'd have to make sure only to leave the apartment when he looked okay though.

When they climbed out of the BMW together, the paparazzi started taking pictures immediately. "Blaine, is this Kurt?" he heard one of them shout, but Blaine ignored the question and led him over to a bouncer standing next to the roped off entrance. When the bouncer recognized Blaine, he lifted the rope and let them through.

Inside, the music was loud and a throng of people were already dance-grinding on the dance floor. Blaine ordered two beers at the bar and Kurt didn't protest when Blaine paid for them because the prices were outrageous. Seven dollars for a small beer was not something Kurt would spend on his own.

"Blaine, you made it," Sebastian Smythe was suddenly in front of them. "And this must be Clark."

"Kurt," Kurt corrected him through gritted teeth. "And you are?"

Sebastian stared at him in disbelief. "Sebastian Smythe."

"Oh, really," Kurt pretended to be surprised. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. The last time I saw you, you were doing the Mickey Mouse club thing." He turned to Blaine and hit his shoulder lightly. "You should have told me you are doing Bare with Sebastian Smythe. I didn't even know he was still acting," he stage whispered, making sure Sebastian heard him though.

The former child star was quietly seething, but he kept his cool. Kurt had to commend him for it.

"Well now you know. Come on, let's dance."

* * *

 **Are Blaine Anderson's Player Days Really Over? - The LLM alumn was spotted dancing closely with his new beau and enfant terrible Sebastian Smythe**

By Chris Snoop

I was lucky to score an invitation to DJ Dash's 30th birthday party Friday night. And so were my favorite Loser Like Me alumn Blaine Anderson, his new boyfriend Kurt, and party boy Sebastian Smythe. When Sebastian's around, a scandal is always quick to follow and I hope his next one won't involve Blaine. When the actor announced he had a boyfriend, it seemed like his player days were over. Blaine hadn't been spotted in L.A's gay bars since last December and insiders say it's all because of Kurt. Now that he met Kurt, Blaine's ready to settle down according to friends of the actor. So what does it mean that he was seen dancing with Sebastian at LaRue? Kurt was quick to push between Blaine and Sebastian, but the three spent most of the night close together until Blaine and Kurt left shortly after one. Sebastian was later seen leaving the club with an unknown male, but he didn't look too happy. Is it possible that Blaine and Sebastian have a history and Sebastian's non too happy about Blaine's new relationship? Sound off in the comments below and check out the pictures here.

* * *

Well, at least he looked good in the pictures, Kurt mused when he ready Chris Snoop's new blog entry. But the content, well, Chris was way off. First, he doubted that any of Blaine's friends had talked about them to the blogger and secondly, there was no history between Blaine and Sebastian though it was clear after spending a night in his presence, that Sebastian really wanted there to be one. And even though he and Blaine weren't actually dating, he was glad that Blaine wasn't interested, because Sebastian was an arrogant douche bag, much too used to getting whatever he wanted. Kurt wouldn't be surprised if Sebastian only pursued Blaine, because he'd shot him down once and needed to prove that he could have any guy he wanted. In a way, he was very much like Rebecca Quinn.

His phone buzzed on the table. His roommates had gotten over Kurt dating Blaine Anderson quickly, so he was now back in his own apartment. The text was from Santana, and Kurt froze in shock when he read the content.

Karofsky talked to TMZ - Santana

Dave Karofsky had been his chief tormentor in school and the reason why Kurt was homeschooled his junior year. He'd never found out why Karofsky seemed to hate him even more than the other jocks at school, but after Kurt had been seen on a date with Chandler, Karofsky had made it his mission to make Kurt's life a living hell. He left him threatening notes, stalked him at school, threw him into dumpsters and vandalized his locker and car. When Kurt complained to the faculty, they accused him of trying to smear the name of one of their top athletes. No one who'd witnessed Karofsky's bullying dared to come forward and so it was Kurt's word against Karofsky's. When Kurt got a note containing a death threat afterward, he'd swallowed his pride and showed it to his dad. They couldn't afford private school and so Kurt was home schooled until Karofsky and his goons graduated at the end of the school year.

With shaking fingers, he typed TMZ' web address into his browser.

* * *

 **Exclusive: 'Kurt's always had a thing for rich, older guys,' a former classmate of Blaine Anderson's boyfriend recounts**

"I wasn't surprised when I read that Kurt's dating Blaine Anderson now," Dave Karofsky, 24, tells us over the phone from his Lima home. "Even back in high school, he always went to that gay bar to pick up older guys so he could afford his fancy clothes. It wasn't unusual to see him get dropped off or picked up by way older guys in expensive cars. That's probably why he had to go to the school councilor so often. When his dad found out, he took Kurt out of school. I don't know if he went back to doing it when he came back to school because I had graduated, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had. Kurt always loved to have a sugar daddy."

The former class mate also spilled the beans about Kurt's last name. "Oh, and it's Hummel, by the way. His dad owns a car shop in Lima. That poor guy's gotten so many calls about his son's behavior, I'm surprised it took him two years before he shipped Kurt off to L.A."

What do you think about this development? Is Blaine just Kurt's latest conquest and will he drop the actor if Blaine won't pay for his expensive lifestyle. Or is Kurt's former classmate just looking for his own fifteen minutes of fame. Let us know what you think.

* * *

Kurt's hands shook when he finished reading the article and he nearly dropped his phone when it rang on the table. It was his dad.

"I'm going to kill him," his dad yelled when Kurt picked up the phone.

"What? Calm down. Who are you going to kill?" Kurt asked, not connecting the dots.

"That Karofsky guy. It's bad enough that he got away with everything back in high school, but this. I'm going to kill him. I know where he works."

Kurt took a deep breath. As angry as he was himself, he had to make sure that his dad didn't do anything stupid.

"Who, how do you even know about this?" he asked.

"Carole, she keeps taps on you online. She didn't want to show me at first, but I know how to use a computer, Kurt. We need to do something; you can't let him get away with this."

Kurt agreed because Karofsky had gone too far this time. Lies about himself he could have taken, but he'd given the press Kurt's full name and his dad's work place.

"I'm so sorry, dad," Kurt whispered. "I can't believe he dragged you into this as well."

Fortunately, his dad already seemed a bit calmer. "Carole thinks we should sue him for slander. Because of the stuff he said about me."

"I think she's right. I'll talk to David, he's Blaine's legal guy. And I think, I should release a statement. I can't have people believe what he said about you is true. I don't care if they think I'm a gold digger, but no one gets to call you a bad dad without repercussions."

Kurt changed the subject then and got his dad to talk about the fishing trip he'd taken the previous weekend.

After, he called Blaine and told him what had happened.

"I'll put Shauna and David on it," the actor promised, "but…," he trailed off.

Kurt knew what he'd wanted to say. 'But it probably won't make a difference.' People who wanted to believe the worst about him, would continue to do so even if he released a statement. But just this once, he had to set the record straight.

* * *

 **Blaine Anderson's rumored beau calls former classmate a liar**

 _By Levi Jenkins_

Shauna Mazar, Blaine Anderson's publicist, issued the following statement on behalf of Kurt Hummel, who is rumored to be dating the actor. Neither Blaine nor Kurt have confirmed so far that they are in a relationship.

"I'm deeply saddened by Dave Karofsky's accusation as they have caused me and my family a lot of pain. I want to make one thing clear; everything he's said is a lie. I had to leave school for most parts of my junior year because Mr. Karofsky bullied me relentlessly and when I talked about it to the faculty, the school took Mr. Karofsky's side. My father took me out of school because he was concerned for my safety. I have not once been toScandals, the Lima gay bar Mr. Karofsky is referring to. I have never dated any older, rich men, nor have I ever been paid for sex with clothes or money. Mr. Karofsky deliberated released my full name and my father's place of work to hurt me, but who he's really hurting is my father. I grew up in a conservative town and it hasn't changed since I left. Because of Mr. Karofsky's lies, my father has already lost some business. Had his lies only concerned me, I would have tried to ignore them, but my father is losing income because of them. Mr. Karofsky didn't give me any warning before he talked to the press, but I'm going to be more courteous. Mr. Karofsky will hear from my father's lawyer in the next few days, as he intends to sue him for defamation."

We here at NO TMI believe that using Blaine's publicist to issue this statement should count as confirmation that the actor and Kurt are in a relationship, but as we don't want to be sued for libel, we'll have to wait for an official confirmation from the actor.

* * *

Rebecca read Kurt's statement with a frown on her face. She'd felt as if she'd won the lottery the day that Karofsky guy had talked shit about Kurt to TMZ, but she had to admit that she'd underestimated the little twink. So far nothing had gone according to her plan. Blaine's fans still loved him and defended him in droves whenever someone said something bad about their star. Only conservative papers had reacted to her reveal about Cooper and Blaine had gotten a role in Bare out of the publicity she'd given him, while she hadn't made it past a second call back. They'd gone with a young Broadway actress instead. A Rachel Berry, who, it turned out, had also gone to high school with Kurt and had taken to twitter to say how things had really gone down back in high school.

So now she had to go after Kurt herself because if it wasn't for him, Blaine probably would have been susceptible to her offer. She'd seen how the little fag had flinched when one of the ADs had clapped him on the shoulder and she'd sensed there was a story.

But when she finally found the skeleton in Kurt's closet, she couldn't believe how easy Kurt was making it. She cackled as she composed a new email to TMZ and added the links for the Columbus Chronicle.

'I wanna see how you'll argue your way out of this one', she thought as she clicked send.

* * *

Blaine had been his rock the days after Karofsky's TMZ interview. After he'd issued his statement, most publications who'd reported on the TMZ article were quick to point out that they had only reported on the article but hadn't said that the content was the truth. Kurt had no interest in going after the magazines though. All he cared about was his dad getting out of this mess he was partly responsible for. Karofsky was also quick to retract his statement when threatened with a lawyer and had issued a second statement that maybe he'd misunderstood Kurt's relationship with the men he'd seen him with. He also stated that he was cleared of the bullying allegations years ago and had the guts to in return threaten Kurt with a law suit for now publicly lying about the bullying. David had advised him not to respond, because he was sure Kurt's new celebrity as Blaine's rumored boyfriend would ensure that witnesses would come forward if Karofsky actually sued him.

But back to Blaine. Kurt didn't know how he'd have fared without Blaine by his side. When Kurt had blamed himself for what happened with Karofsky, the actor reminded him again and again that there was only one person at fault and that person wasn't Kurt. Every night after work, Blaine picked him up and distracted him with cheesy comedies and comfort food. Blaine held him when he cried after Carole told him how reporters hounded his dad and the Lima Daily refused to run more adverts for his dad's shop.

Being this close to Blaine daily, being comforted when Blaine really didn't have to because they weren't a real couple, made him realize that maybe he should give them a chance after all. Kurt had been brought on board to help the actor, but he knew that the Karofsky article wasn't just hurting Kurt. Now that he was out and his fans still loved him, Blaine could have distanced himself from Kurt, but he didn't. He defended him and gave Kurt access to his whole team free of charge. Santana had said he'd be stupid not to give Blaine a real chance, and she was probably right. The only thing standing in the way was Kurt himself; Kurt's issues and the crippling fear that had kept him from all other potential relationships.

Hands shaking, he reserved a table for two at an intimate little restaurant in West Hollywood and sent Blaine a text asking to meet him there Friday at eight, because there was something he needed to tell him.

Friday morning, he woke up feeling cautiously optimistic. He had no doubt that Blaine would be interested; the actor had made his feelings clear from the start. Now all he had to do was go through with his plan and confess his feelings to Blaine.

He was on his way to his car when he got a text from Santana.

Please don't go online. I'm so sorry, Kurt - Santana.

Hands shaking he did it anyway and googled his name. It was as if his worst nightmare had suddenly come to life and what Kurt had been running from for years, suddenly, was in all the tabloids.


	12. The Decision

**AN:** There are more details about Kurt's attack in this chapter. If you want to find out what happened first, go to the end of the chapter first.

 **'THE DECISION'**

 **Sophomore Assaulted On OSU Campus - Campus Police questioned suspects but no arrests have been made**

The Columbus Chronicle - Sunday Edition, March 12, 2006

Ohio native Kurt Hummel, 20, was on his way home from Flannigan's, a popular Ohio State University hangout where he'd met friends for drinks. He left early because of a headache, deciding to walk home instead of taking a cab. Only two blocks from his dorm building, three unknown males pulled Mr. Hummel behind an University administrative building, where they proceeded to hit and kick their victim. Homophobic slurs were hurled at Mr. Hummel, a member of OSU's Gay and Straight Student Alliance.

 **Three Seniors scare off attackers**

Melanie Thompson, Macy Greer and Jamie Bernstein were heading to a party on Greek Row when they heard the sounds of the attack. They three went to investigate while simultaneously alerting the campus police. What they found was shocking. The victim had been shoved against a wall and his pants and underwear had been pulled down. One of the attackers was threatening to teach Mr. Hummel a lesson he'd never forget. The three girls loudly called for help, causing the three attackers to flee the scene. The witnesses described them as three caucasian males in their early twenties, all around 6 feet tall. All three wore Buckeyes baseball caps hiding their hair color from the seniors.

 **Suspects questioned but no arrests**

Campus Police started to look for the attackers immediately based on the witnesses' descriptions. They confirmed that multiple suspects were questioned, but there was not enough evidence for any arrests. Mr. Hummel, who'd been admitted to Grant Medical Center, is currently being treated for various injuries sustained in the attack.

* * *

 **Member of Hockey Team Implicated in OSU Campus Attack - Claims selfdefense and poor judgment**

The Columbus Chronicle - Thursday, March 15, 2006

"I know I should have called campus police instead of my friends when I noticed that that guy from Flannigan's was following me," Troy McNamara,22, said in a statement after being questioned by the police. "He'd already solicited me for sex when he followed me into the bathroom and he kept hitting on me even after I told him no. He was obviously drunk and seemed only interested in one thing. I left the bar early to get away from him, but he followed me. It was poor judgment to hit him instead of alerting campus police, but he was coming onto me again and I felt cornered, especially after he pulled down his pants. When my friends arrived, they pulled him away from me and unfortunately, that's how we were found. I know it must have looked bad, but it was nothing more than selfdefense."

 **Apparent clear - cut case develops into a he said, he said case**

The case seemed clear after the alleged victim, Kurt Hummel, 20, talked to the police. In his statement, he said that he was beaten up and threatened with rape by three men who hurled homophobic slurs at him. Before they could follow through on their threat, three female students discovered them and called campus police. The alleged attackers ran off. When Troy McNamara was questioned in connections with the attack, he quickly admitted to hitting Mr. Hummel, but he told a very different story than the alleged victim. Mr. McNamara stated that Mr. Hummel had been the aggressor and he had only defended himself. The police are now looking for people who were at Flannigans on Friday, March 10th, to corroborate Mr. McNamara's statement.

 **Witness identifies hockey player**

One of the witnesses, Macy Greer, 22, a OSU senior pointed the police in Mr. McNamara's direction. She hadn't recognized him during the attacks, but had told the police that one of the men had seemed familiar and that she thought he played some kind of sport. She was shown pictures of members of all OSU sports teams and identified hockey player Troy McNamara.

 **Alleged victim refused to comment on new allegations**

When contacted about Mr. McNamara's statement, Mr. Hummel refused to comment. He's set to be released from the hospital later today. The police also refused to comment further on the ongoing investigation.

* * *

 **OSU Campus attack settled out of court**

The Columbus Chronicle - Monday, May 8, 2006

Troy McNamara, along with fellow OSU seniors James Winters and Patrick Johnson accepted a plea deal before what had happened on March 10 was dealt with in court. The three agreed to pay Kurt Hummel's hospital bills and serve three months of community service in exchange for not being charged with assault and battery.

Mr. Hummel's father, a mechanic from Lima, OH, was outraged when he heard about the deal. "Those men followed my son and assaulted him for being gay. And to make matters worse, they painted themselves as the victims. They should go to jail for this, they should get a record." Kurt Hummel, the alleged victim, declined to comment. His friends claim, that Mr. Hummel does not feel safe at Ohio State University any more and is considering transferring to another university. Mr. McNamara, Mr. Winters and Mr. Johnson are set to graduate from OSU next week. One professor described them as bright young men with promising futures, who should not have their lives ruined because of a lapse in judgment.

* * *

It was everywhere. Wherever Kurt went, people either looked at him with pity or told him he was making things worse for actual rape victims. Ari was furious as well because one magazine had revealed that Kurt was working as Ari Gold's assistant. And Blaine, well, he wouldn't stop calling since Kurt had texted him two days ago to cancel their dinner.

But it was nothing compared to his dad. If Kurt had thought he was furious before, it was nothing compared to what he was now. It was good that he didn't know who exactly was behind all this, because Kurt was afraid his dad would commit a homicide.

'Why don't you tell the press who's behind this?' his dad had yelled after the stories broke.

The problem was that they had no proof. Rebecca wasn't stupid and had hidden her identity well. Kurt knew because Blaine had asked Lauren to see if she could proof that Rebecca was the source of the pictures. And with Loser Like Me about to go into syndication and the DVD box set coming out, Blaine would be crazy to accuse his former co-star of blackmailing him if he had no proof.

The absolute worst thing, however, was that people started to believe Karofsky because of the controversy surrounding his attack. If there was doubt that Kurt was the real victim then it was also possible that Kurt had lied about his high school experiences as well was the consensus on social media. The attacks from Blaine's fans were usually the worst - they called Kurt all sorts of horrible names for hurting Blaine with his past. He wanted to hide in a cave until the whole thing blew over, but unfortunately he still had to go to work. And then Ari sent him out to get coffee, probably to punish him for dragging his agency into this whole mess. All eyes were on him as he waited in line at the closest Starbucks. He could hear people whispering about him and some people didn't even try to hide it that they were taking pictures of him with their phones. Finally, it was his turn.

They barista's eyes widened when she saw him and before Kurt could place his order, she spit in his face.

"You're disgusting," she yelled. "How could you do this to Blaine."

Kurt turned on his heels and fled the coffee shop. By the time he reached his car in the employee parking garage, tears where streaming down his face. He managed to send Santana a text telling her that he had to go home and sped out of the parking garage. His apartment, blessedly, was empty when he pushed open the door. Kurt collapsed on the couch, pulled his knees up to his chest and started to sob. It had been bad enough at OSU when he had to finish the spring semester, but back then only the people he had classes with knew about the incident. Apart from going to class, Kurt had spent the rest of the semester in his dorm room after he'd been released from the hospital. But now everyone seemed to know about his past and he just knew that he couldn't do it any longer.

'I'm sorry, but it's over. I can't do it any more.' he texted Blaine, his hands shaking so badly he dropped his phone twice. After, he immediately turned off his phone, because he was sure Blaine would try to call him again.

He didn't know how long he'd sat on the couch sobbing into his arms when there was a knock on the door.

"Kurt, please let me in. Santana told me you're here," Blaine pleaded through the door.

"Go away," Kurt yelled. He couldn't face the actor right now.

"Please Kurt. I just want to talk, make sure you're okay."

"I don't want to talk, Blaine. There's nothing to say. Just go away and find someone with less baggage."

The actor decided to fight dirty. "Please Kurt, do you want your neighbors to see me like this? The press would have a field day."

Kurt wiped his eyes on his sleeve and stiffly got off the couch. Blaine walked through the door quickly after Kurt unlocked it and pulled him into his arms. Kurt didn't have the strength to fight him. Behind him, Blaine kicked the door shut.

"I'm so sorry Kurt, but why didn't you tell me? I'd never have pissed off Rebecca if I knew what she could uncover about you," Blaine whispered.

Kurt pushed him away. "Because it was none of your business. We'd barely known each other when I agreed to the deal and I, I guess I just wanted to forget it ever happened," Kurt cried.

But again he didn't fight the actor when Blaine took his hand and pulled him onto the couch with him. For some reason he realized in this moment, that this was the first time Blaine was in his apartment. The small space he shared with three roommates really highlighted that they lived in two different worlds.

"You're right, I didn't mean to accuse you of anything, but please Kurt, don't end it now. Not because I don't want bad publicity over our 'break up', but because I really like you, Kurt, you have to know that. I've never made a secret out of it," Blaine pleaded and Kurt wanted to give in, but he couldn't. He couldn't handle the media attention that came with being with Blaine anymore.

"We never confirmed we were dating so there's no need to break up anyway," he evaded answering Blaine's question, though it broke his heart a little knowing that he was throwing away his chance of being with Blaine for real.

"So you really don't feel anything for me?" Blaine withdrew his hand.

"Even if I did, I'm clearly the wrong guy for someone like you. You should be with someone without baggage, someone who doesn't flinch when someone touches him, someone who can handle a few mean comments online. You'd probably be better off dating another celebrity." Kurt refused to look at Blaine, because he was afraid he'd change his mind if he looked into the actor's eyes.

"If that's what you really want," Blaine said, voice strained.

Kurt nodded. He didn't look up until the door had closed behind Blaine. Then he broke down.

* * *

There was only one reason why Blaine accepted Sebastian's invitation to go to another party with him. He wanted to get shitfaced and forget about what had happened with Kurt.

"No Kurt tonight?" Sebastian greeted him inside the club, smiling smugly.

"He's got a work thing," Blaine lied, because he wouldn't put it past Sebastian to call the press himself if he found out what had transpired between him and Kurt.

"Too bad," Sebastian smirked, but Blaine decide to ignore it.

He pushed past the younger boy and headed for the bar, ordering his first of many shots. An hour later, he was beyond tipsy and dancing with Sebastian on the dance floor. He wasn't too far gone though that he didn't make sure Sebastian didn't get too close. Everyone in the club probably knew he had a boyfriend and he didn't want to be called a cheater on top of everything that was going on.

Another hour later, the room was spinning and Blaine clutched his head.

"I don't feel so good," he groaned.

"You wanna get out of here?" Sebastian asked, suspiciously sober himself. Even though he'd been to rehab twice, the party boy was notorious for his drunken escapades.

"Can you call me a cab?" Blaine asked. He'd given Jeff and Nick the night off and knew they were out partying themselves.

"Don't worry about it, I can drive you. I didn't drink tonight," Sebastian confirmed his suspicion but Blaine didn't protest even though he knew he should. But all he wanted was to get home.

On the way to his house, Sebastian had to pull over twice to avoid Blaine puking in his Porsche. He was proud of himself for managing to punch in his code at the gate without having to tell Sebastian the combination. Even his drunk brain knew that it probably wouldn't have been a good idea. Sebastian pulled up in front of the house where they were met by Wes and David who looked at him like two parents who caught their child drunk.

"Thanks Sebastian, we'll take it from here," Wes said sternly and it was clear even to Blaine that it was an order. Next to him, Sebastian looked pissed, but he didn't argue with Wes when he pretty much dragged Blaine out of the car.

Together, Wes and David helped him upstairs where they pushed him into his shower fully clothed. The cold water helped him sober up a bit, but it didn't stop him from having to throw up again. He knew that if he remembered this tomorrow, he'd be mortified to know he puked in the shower, but at the moment he really didn't care.

"You're lucky you have friends who care about you," Wes told him as he and David helped him out of his clothes and into a shirt and underwear to sleep in. Under different circumstances, he would have been embarrassed, but at the moment he was grateful for their help.

"You're the best," he mumbled before he passed out on his bed.

* * *

 **Trouble in Paradise? Blaine Anderson caught partying with Sebastian Smythe**

By Chris Snoop

Our favorite LLM alumn was caught dancing closely with party boy Sebastian Smythe at Why Not last night, rumored boyfriend Kurt Hummel nowhere in sight. The clearly inebriated star was later caught on camera leaving the club with Sebastian looking awfully cosy. What do you think? Is there already trouble in paradise. Or could Sebastian actually be the boyfriend and Kurt just a friend after all? Let me know what you think and check out the pics here.

* * *

"You need to stop reading those articles, Kurt," Santana told him when Kurt showed up at her apartment, eyes red-rimmed from crying.

He knew she was right and that he also had no right to feel jealous and betrayed when he had been the one to tell Blaine to date another celebrity. It just hurt that Blaine hadn't even waited a day before he replaced Kurt.

"I never read the gossip magazines, they never say nice things," a familiar voice piped up from Santana's couch and Kurt's jaw dropped.

"Hi Brittany," he stuttered and turned to stare at Santana. "Am I interrupting something?"

"It's okay, we can get our mack on later," the dancer smiled easily and Kurt nearly choked on his own spit.

"You two are dating?" he gasped. How could Santana not have told him about this when he always told her everything. "You just met!"

Santana shrugged, a small smile on her face. "When you know, you know."

Kurt sank onto her couch, took the bottle of red wine that was on the coffee table and took a swig.

"You shouldn't worry about this Sebastian guy," Brittany patted his back. "Blaine really likes you, he wouldn't cheat on you."

"We're not together," Kurt replied, forgetting for a moment that Brittany didn't know his relationship with Blaine had been fake. Luckily, Brittany seemed to have forgotten that Blaine had introduced him as his boyfriend at the party.

"Why not? He likes you and you like him, right?"

It sounded so simple when Brittany said it, but she didn't know the whole story and Kurt couldn't tell her. He barely knew the girl. Fortunately, Santana understood.

"Britt, honey, could you get us some ice cream from the store?"

The blonde nodded and left the apartment.

"So, what's really stopping you?" Santana asked after Brittany had left. "It can't just be the media attention. I know you're stronger than this."

He really wasn't. "You know why. I've never been with anyone and what if he's not interested anymore when I tell him the truth. He's already replaced me."

"After you shot him down," Santana reminded him. Kurt cursed himself for telling her about the conversation with Blaine. "He asked you if he had a shot and you told him no. What did you expect? That he'd wait around for you forever?"

The truth was a harsh mistress. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"You either tell him how you feel and tell him you need to take it slow and he either is okay with it or he isn't. Then at least you know whether he's a good guy or a jerk. Or you don't tell him and move on. But then you don't get to be jealous when he moves on as well. But you probably should make up your mind soon before you've really lost your chance."

* * *

"If you call off your arrangement with Anderson, you can forget your screenplay," Ari yelled when Kurt confessed a few days later, that he'd broken it off with Blaine. Well, it wasn't as much a confession as a confirmation of what Ari had accused him off. Because in the last couple of days, more and more pictures of Blaine out with Sebastian had surfaced. And even though Blaine wasn't doing anything but drinking with Sebastian in the pictures, Ari still had called him into his office.

"Why do you care who Blaine dates? He's out and his fans still love him," Kurt countered. He'd barely slept since Blaine started going out with Sebastian and was in no mood to play nice with his boss.

"Because he's getting a bad rep hanging out with Smythe and no one wants to hire a party boy who spends every day of the week getting drunk or high. Rebecca's pictures already did some damage, losing Blaine an audition for a family friendly comedy, but this, this makes my job so much harder. Shauna's had calls all week about Blaine's erratic behavior so you better get him under control before even more projects fall through and I might not just call off our deal but fire you as well," Ari hissed.

"Oh come on. He's just doing what a lot of actor's his age are doing," Kurt protested.

"Yeah, but other actors his age didn't just come out. He doesn't need to win over his female fans, he needs to win over their parents. And a monogamous gay actor who spends his nights eating romantic dinners with his boyfriend or doing other normal couple-y stuff with him, this is something parents can live with. A gay actor who spends every night doing god knows what in gay bars, not so much. So take him out to dinner and tell him what ever you need to tell him to get him to stop. Are we clear?"

"Cristal," Kurt replied through clenched teeth.

* * *

"You can always come back home for a bit if you need to," his dad told him when Kurt called and confessed that he needed a break.

"I don't want to run away, dad, but people keep calling to ask for my side of the story and how I'm handling being cheated on and Blaine's friends keep texting begging me to talk to Blaine before he does something really stupid and I just can't deal with it anymore. And on top of that I might get fired, because my boss blames me for Blaine's behavior."

"I knew it was a bad idea to get involved with a celebrity," his dad sighed. "But what's done is done. Just know that you're always welcome here, whether it's for a weekend or longer, okay?"

"Thanks dad."

Kurt ended the call and considered his dad's offer. Getting away from L.A was all he wanted at the moment, but he knew that if he left now, he'd be out of a job and who knew if he'd ever get another one in L.A after Ari fired him. He couldn't even hide out in New York with Rachel because fate was cruel and had cast her in the same production as Blaine. They'd spoken on the phone briefly after Kurt had found out and Rachel had revealed that she was considering moving to L.A if a pilot she'd filmed was picked up. She'd been super happy about maybe living in the same city again and here Kurt was, contemplating running back home to Ohio. It seemed like running and not going for things he wanted was all he did. A few negative remarks from his vocal teacher had kept him from auditioning for performing arts colleges, he'd run from OSU to L.A and now he was thinking about running again, instead of staying and fighting for the first guy he developed real feelings for. Maybe he needed a sign that would tell him what to do.

Be careful what you wish for.

 **Kurt Hummel's Bad Luck With Men**

By Jakob Ben Israel - Lima Daily News

We've all read a lot about Kurt Hummel in the past weeks, but did you know that Kurt's string of bad luck with men started right here in Lima? Yours truly had the honor of going to high school with Kurt and let me tell you, he really knew how to pick them. Case in point.

1) Finn Hudson: Former McKinley High School quarterback and Kurt's late stepbrother. Before Finn died in 2004, Kurt had a huge crush on him. It was so bad, he introduced Finn's mother to his father so he could spend more time with his crush once their parents started dating. Rumors say, Kurt was still in love with his stepbrother when he died shortly after graduation.

2) Chandler Kiehl: Kurt knew him for three months when he found out that his boyfriend wasn't actually his boyfriend. How embarrassing that conversation must have been. Was the lack of action not a give away, Kurt? Or did you think sex equals a relationship?

3) Numerous OSU students: A number of Ohio State University students claim to have gone on dates with Kurt, but it never went beyond a second. I checked out the guys and they all seemed nice enough. So why no third date, Kurt?

4) Troy McNamara: I think we all know how that story went. Fed up with getting rejected, Kurt didn't take no for an answer and followed a guy home. Too bad the guy knew how to defend himself.

5) Blaine Anderson: The TV start traded Kurt in for a younger and more famous model only two weeks after going public with him. Bet he's regretting this decision already with all the bad press Kurt's brought him.

Hopefully, he'll have better luck in the future. I know at least one guy here in Lima who'd definitely be interested. Give me a call, Kurt, and I set the two of you up.

* * *

Kurt didn't even want to know, who JBI was referring to. Bringing up his crush on Finn had been the last straw. Even people who before had believed he was the true victim, were now questioning if maybe he hadn't brought on his attack himself. And even though Santana had offered to help him release another statement, Kurt had declined. He was just too tired too fight back. Instead, he packed his bags, told his roommates to find a replacement for him and emailed Ari that he was going back to Ohio indefinitely. He left his company phone with Santana, so Ari couldn't accuse him of stealing when he eventually fired Kurt.

A few hours later, his plane landed in Columbus and Kurt stumbled into his dad's waiting arms.

"Is it okay if I stay a while?" he cried into his dad's familiar flannel covered shoulders.

"You can stay for as long as you want."

* * *

Kurt's attack: Kurt gets beat up by three OSU seniors on the way home from a bar. They hurl homophobic slurs at him and threaten him with rape to teach him a lesson. All this is covered through various newspaper articles reporting the attack.


	13. The Fresh Start

**'THE FRESH START'**

It was probably his parents' pitying looks that made him come here, Kurt thought as he parked Carole's Toyota in front of Scandals , Lima's only gay bar. They probably agreed with JBI, otherwise they wouldn't have been so happy when Kurt told them he finally had a boyfriend. He was just glad he'd come clean about his crush on Finn and the Chandler thing years ago, so his family didn't hear it from the news. And maybe he was just too picky. Maybe what he should do was get drunk and just get it over and done with. Maybe then, he could just date guys like a normal almost twenty-four year old instead of acting like a teenager in his very first relationship. Just because he'd never had that kind of experience when he was in high school didn't mean he had to act like he was still seventeen. People had drunk hook ups all the time and the world didn't end. Blaine had done it for years and he turned out okay, right? So why couldn't he do the same? Kurt squared his shoulders and got out off the car. He'd told his parents he was going for a drive to clear his head and not to wait up for him.

The bouncer barely looked at his ID when Kurt handed it over.

"Enjoy, it's drag queen Wednesday," he drawled.

There was nothing scandalous about Scandals. The bar was filled with middle aged men who looked at the door apprehensively every time someone new entered. Most were wearing wedding rings and seemed afraid to be seen by anyone they knew. It made Kurt grateful that being in the closet had never been an option for him, because the men at Scandals all seemed so unhappy. He went over to the bar where a couple of college aged guys were sitting. Before he could order a drink, one of the guys did it for him.

"Whatever he's having, put it on my tap," he winked at the bartender and Kurt took the barstool next to him.

"Gin and Tonic, please," he ordered, before he turned to the guy. "Thanks."

"No problem at all," the guy smiled. "I'm Dan and those are Tom and Henry," he introduced his friends.

"Kurt," Kurt said. From the way they were looking at him they knew who he was anyway.

"So Kurt, what brings you back to Lima? Looking for some real guys?" Tom asked. Kurt wanted to roll his eyes, but this was what he was here for. To find someone who was interested in him.

"Just visiting," he lied, because these days he couldn't trust anyone not to sell him out to the press for a quick buck. "So you three are the real deal then," he tried to flirt awkwardly.

"Yep," Tom winked. "And we have no problem being your rebound guys."

Kurt emptied his glass in one go. If he really wanted to go home with one of these guys he needed a lot of liquid courage. Four Gin and Tonics later, he let Tom, Dan and Henry pull him out onto the dance floor. He quickly found himself sandwiched between Tom and Henry and willed himself to relax. This was just dancing; people did it all the times. When Tom leaned in to kiss him though, Kurt turned his head.

"Sorry, bathroom," he mumbled and stumbled away. In the surprisingly clean bathroom, he was splashing water on his face when his phone buzzed in his pocket. The caller ID told him that Blaine was calling yet again. He'd done so on and off since Kurt had been spotted at LAX, but Kurt had never picked up. His alcohol addled brain, however, thought it was a good idea to take the actor's call now..

"Hi Blaine," he answered, still happy drunk. Another man entered the bathroom and for a moment the room was filled with loud music from the dance floor.

"Kurt, where are you?" Blaine yelled.

"I'm at Scandals," Kurt announced giddily. "That's a gay bar."

"You're in Lima?"

"Yep," Kurt replied, popping the p. "Men like me here."

"I don't understand. I liked you in L.A," Blaine replied after a moment's pause.

"But you don't like me anymore," Kurt pouted. "You like Sebastian now. It's in all the tabloids."

"Kurt, it's really loud where you are. Can you go somewhere more quiet. I really think we should talk," Blaine evaded his question. Kurt didn't like that.

"I can't leave now, I haven't decided if I want to go home with Tom or with Henry," he giggled.

"I don't understand what you're trying to do here, Kurt. I'm not dating Sebastian, but even if I were, what's it to you? You rejected me."

Blaine was still shouting and Kurt pulled his phone from his ear. He was here to have fun not to fight with his ex fake boyfriend. But Blaine had asked him a question and it was only polite to answer.

"You wouldn't have wanted me if you knew the truth," he accused Blaine.

"What, Kurt? I told you I don't care about those articles, so what's this really about? Why'd you run off to Ohio? Your friend Santana nearly ripped my head off because according to her you're in love with me and I ruined everything." Kurt was too drunk to figure out if Blaine sounded confused or angry.

"You wouldn't have wanted me," Kurt reiterated. Why wouldn't Blaine understand?

'What, Kurt? What's so horrible that you think I wouldn't like you because of it?"

"I'm a virgin," Kurt yelled forgetting for a moment where he was and that he wasn't alone in the bathroom. A man leered at him following his outburst, but Kurt gave him the finger, before returning to the matter at hand. Now that he started he couldn't stop. "And you like sex. You have one night stands all the time. You didn't even wait one day before you went out and hooked up with that sleaze. Did you also hook up with guys while you were supposedly dating me? Not that it matters now. I'm gonna go home with Tom or Dan and then I'll be normal too."

His outburst was met with stunned silence but when Blaine finally responded, Kurt knew he'd gone too far.

"I can't believe you're throwing my past back in my face," Blaine said, voice cold and distant. "I had one night stands because I couldn't have relationships not because I didn't want them and I thought you understood that. I thought you understood that I wanted a relationship with you, not just another meaningless hook up. I could have easily had that with Sebastian, but I didn't because what I really want, what I've wanted for a long time is a relationship."

Fuck, he really blew it. Whatever chance he might have had with Blaine, it was definitely gone now.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, Blaine. I didn't mean that. I'm drunk, I didn't mean to take my issues out on you," he apologized, surprised that Blaine hadn't hung up yet.

"Just do me a favor, Kurt," Blaine sighed. "Go and get some water and don't leave with anyone. Don't make my mistakes."

And then he hung up and Kurt stood alone in the bathroom of an Ohio gay bar and stared at his dark phone screen. He didn't get a water, he got another drink, but he didn't join Dan and his friends on the dance floor again.

It really was no surprise when his dad gently touched his elbow a while later and told Kurt to come with him. Pam and Carole had become fast friends since they'd been introduced and Kurt assumed Blaine had called his mom for Carole's number.

Back home, on his family's couch, he accepted a cup of coffee from Carole.

"Wanna tell me why Carole got a call from your ex-boyfriend telling her you were about to do something really stupid?" his dad asked after Kurt had stared at his cup in silence for a few moments.

Then the tears came fast. "I've made a mess of everything."

He told them everything. How he'd agreed to fake date Blaine so Ari would help him get his screenplay produced. How he'd fallen in love with Blaine in the process but had been too scared to give them a real chance, how Rebecca had come after him when she realized she couldn't hurt Blaine and how he'd ruined every chance he ever had with Blaine in one phone call.

Carole held him as he cried, telling the story while he sobbed uncontrollably. He'd tried apologizing for the mess he created for them, but Carole kept shushing him, telling him it wasn't his fault when Kurt knew that it was. If he had never agreed to the deal, reporters wouldn't still bother his family, his father wouldn't have lost some costumers and they would still be anonymous. Kurt had ruined everything, because he'd wanted to take a short cut. His dad had probably been right, Hollywood had changed him. The old Kurt Hummel would have found his own way instead of waiting for someone else to do the work. He was the reason they were in this mess, and no matter what his parents said, he knew he was right.

* * *

"Don't tell me you still want that guy after what he said to you?" Wes hissed after Blaine got off the phone, more intent than ever to take Rebecca down, because without her, they'd never be in the mess they were in.

"Remember when you told me I self sabotage any potential relationship because I'm afraid to actually be in one," Blaine retorted. Back then he'd told Wes he was full of shit but in hindsight, he knew his friend had been right. In a way he had no more experience than Kurt. If you never let anyone in, you couldn't get hurt. Just look at his mom; when things got tough, his dad had abandoned her and Blaine.

"And you think Kurt's doing the same," Wes snorted.

"He wouldn't have apologized if he really meant it or was done with me for good," Blaine argued because he wasn't ready to give up hope just jet that he and Kurt could have their happy ending. "Maybe all we need is a fresh start, a chance to do things right the second time around. Things got crazy so quickly and we never had a chance to really get to know each other with all the media attention."

"And you think it'd be different now? People are still talking about you and him, even though you haven't been seen together in weeks," Wes reminded him.

"Yeah, but they're talking about the wrong things. They make Kurt out to be this horrible person, when it's Rebecca they should go after," Blaine sighed.

He had been selfish when he'd agreed to the deal, hoping that if Kurt had to spend more time with him, he'd eventually agree to date. Instead, he should have just taken Kurt up on his offer to be friends. He understood Ari's reasoning that people would accept his coming out more easily if he already was in a monogamous relationship when he did, but the prize he and Kurt paid, ended up being too high in the end.

"Do you at least have a plan? Lauren only managed to tie her IP addresses to a bunch of coffee shops and you can't watch them all hoping to catch her in the act. If there's even anything she hasn't released yet."

Blaine took another beer out of his mini fridge. After how much he'd drank the past week out partying with Sebastian, his liver deserved a break, but talking about Rebecca made him desperate for a drink.

"We have a plan. I asked Rebecca to meet because I want to know what I can do to make her stop and when we do, I'm going to record her. Lauren showed me how I can use my phone to do it," he revealed.

"And you think she's going to fall for it?" Wes asked, a frown on his face.

"Rebecca likes to talk about her accomplishments."

"I really hope this works out, Blaine," his best friend sighed. "Because I like the Blaine who was with Kurt much more than the Blaine who spends his nights getting wasted with a guy like Sebastian. And I'm saying this as your friend and not your manager."

* * *

They'd agreed to meet in Malibu, on the beach they had shot Parker and Madison's wedding on. It was a cloudy and rather cold day in early May, so barely anyone was around.

"So you've come to your senses?" Rebecca asked and Blaine slipped his hand into his spring coat and pressed the record button.

"So are you happy that you ruined my life and Kurt's life?" Blaine countered. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"I didn't ruin your life. Your fans love you more than ever. If anything, I gave you tons of free publicity. You should thank me."

Blaine took a deep breath to keep calm. He couldn't blow up on her, not until he had a confession.

"Me I get, but why Kurt? What did he ever do to you?" he asked. Rebecca scoffed.

"He took you away from me. If it hadn't been for him, everyone would be talking about us now. But I only went after him, when no one important really cared about your skeletons. Sure, you lost an audition but it was a shitty script anyway. I thought the last season of LLM was shit, but that script was just horrible. I know because they asked me to audition too. Even got a callback."

Blaine fought the urge to smile. This was even better. Rebecca talking shit about her jobs would definitely hurt her career.

"Are you sure you aren't just bitter that you didn't get cast in Bare?" he goaded her.

"Oh please, you know you only got the job because Sebastian wants to get into your pants and his daddy gives him whatever he wants. How this guy ever won two Tonys is a mystery to me."

"Maybe you should have been a detective instead. I can't believe you found all that stuff about Kurt."

Rebecca snorted again. "This is 2009. All I had to do was spend a few hours on google and send a few links to the right people. I really didn't have to do all that much, the media took care of the rest and those Ohio loser looking for their fifteen minutes of fame were just a lucky byproduct. It really was too easy with Kurt. You should have found a toyboy who didn't have so many skeletons in his closet."

"You disgust me," Blaine couldn't hold back any longer. "Kurt's been through hell and thanks to you he's had to relive all of it again. He's the victim, but you made it so that people are blaming him for the things that were done to him. Luckily, he's much stronger than you gave him credit for."

Rebecca laughed. "So he's not run off to Ohio, because the bad bad media was mean to him? He's going to need a thicker skin if you ever get him back."

Blaine didn't answer. He'd never confirmed his relationship with Kurt and he sure as hell wasn't going to do it on a tape he planned to release to the media.

"Goodbye Rebecca, I hope you can find a way to live with yourself."

* * *

It felt good helping out in the shop again, though Kurt stuck to his dad's office because he wasn't ready to face any customers. He'd also taken his dad's advice and had started writing a new script based on his experiences with online media and social networks over the last couple of weeks, leaving out his pretend relationship with Blaine though. He wanted to write a story about how publications in the race to always be the first to report something, stopped fact checking and just published anything they were told. His main character was a young college student, who's picture accidentally was used in an article about sexual assault on a college campus and before the day was over, every newspaper in the country was using his picture to report about the crime. It didn't matter that a retraction was printed the following day, his life, after, was forever changed.

His dad was glad for the help too, because while he really did know his way around a computer, he didn't like them very much. Following Kurt's break down, the whole family had agreed however to stay away from the Internet for the time being. Blaine had texted him once the following day, saying that he hoped Kurt was feeling okay, but Kurt hadn't responded and that was the last he'd heard from the actor. He wasn't surprised; after the horrible things he'd said, he'd stay away too.

When he was done with the most recent paperwork, he decided to check his emails. There was one from Ari telling him that if he wasn't back in L.A by the end of the week he would be fired, but Kurt had found his peace with it. He wasn't ready to go back to L.A any time soon and had known he'd lose his job when he'd just taken off. He didn't even have a place to live anymore as his former roommates had already found a replacement. He quickly replied to a message from Mercedes, who was worried because Kurt's phone was off. His friend was currently touring the South and had only heard about what was going on from the tabloids.

And then there was an email from Santana with the subject line 'check this out'. Warily, Kurt opened the message. Inside was a link to an article by the L.A Times. 'I know you're staying away from the internet, but you gotta read this,' his friend wrote. After taking a deep breath, Kurt clicked on the link.

* * *

 **Former LLM Star Rebecca Quinn Revealed As Source Behind 'Blainegate' - Clearasil drops Ms. Quinn as spokeswoman**

The L.A Times

People have been speculating for weeks about the man or woman who kept releasing private pictures from actor Blaine Anderson's past and supplied the media with information about Mr. Anderson's rumored boyfriend Kurt Hummel. Neither Mr. Anderson nor Mr. Hummel have confirmed that they are in a relationship.

The actress was caught on tape admitting in a conversation with Mr. Anderson that it had been her who was the source behind what fans and media came to call 'Blainegate'. She also admitted that she targeted Mr. Hummel out of jealousy.

 **Loser Like Me creator Ben Williams shocked**

Ms. Quinn was also recorded making disparaging remarks about the show that started her career and a production, both she and Mr. Anderson were considered for. Ben Williams, the creator and show runner of Loser Like Me, in a statement, said he was shocked to learn that 'Rebecca could have done something like this.'

Meanwhile, 'Clearasil' announced they'd dropped Ms. Quinn as their spokeswoman and a Public Service Announcement the actress recorded about bullying in schools was pulled off the air following the release of the tape.

 **Legal Repercussions**

As Mr. Hummel was not a public figure when his personal information was released, Ms. Quinn and several media outlets have violated Mr. Hummel's right to privacy. However, currently, we do not have information whether Mr. Hummel intends to sue Ms. Quinn or the media outlets who first reported on him.

* * *

Kurt was stunned as he reread the article. The truth was finally out and from what he gathered from the article, it had been Blaine who'd brought Rebecca down. Against his better judgment, he googled his name. TMZ had released a full recording of the tape along with a public apology to Kurt. It was the same on NO TMI and other online blogs like it. It seemed like everyone was afraid of getting sued. Kurt had no plans to do so. He wanted this whole affair to be over and suing Rebecca would only keep his name in the papers.

After reading the article for the third time, he poked his head into the garage and seeing that no customers were around, he called for his dad.

"About damn time," his dad grumbled after he'd read the L.A Times article as well.

Kurt left to get lunch. He needed some time to clear his head and consider his next steps.

Burt clicked out of the article and started eating his own lunch, a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, when the office phone rang.

"Hummel Tires and Lube," he answered after swallowing his bite.

"Mr. Hummel, I don't know if you remember me, but it's Blaine Anderson," the person on the other end of the line said.

"How could I ever forget you," Burt growled. The line went silent for a moment.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Hummel. I never meant for Kurt to get hurt." The kid sounded sincere and Burt sighed. "It's Burt and as much as it pains me to say it, it isn't all your fault. So what can I do for you?"

When Blaine replied, he sounded surprised. "Oh wow, I didn't think you'd forgive me so quickly. The reason why I'm calling is because I wanted to ask you for a favor. Can I just explain and then you can decided whether you want to help me or not?"

That didn't sound ominous at all. "Shoot."

* * *

Kurt was finishing up his salad in the office, when his dad poked his head in.

"Can you take the tow truck out to West Lima? I just got a call from some guy and it sounded like something I can only fix in the garage," he said.

"Can't someone else do it?" Kurt asked, because he wasn't ready to go out in public again. His dead shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but Jimmy and Hector just left for lunch and I promised Mrs. Stottlemeyer her car would be done in an hour. All I need you to do is take a quick look at the car and either bring it back or fix it straight away."

"Fine," Kurt grumbled. "What's the address?"

"Next to the phone," his dad pointed to a yellow legal pad next to the office phone.

Kurt wrote down the address before he got dressed and took the keys to one of their two tow trucks off the hook in his dad's office. There was no name, just a description of the car and the address. Kurt thought it was a bit strange, but maybe his dad hadn't understood the name and didn't want Kurt to call a costumer by the wrong name.

Fifteen minutes later, he pulled over next to a vaguely familiar green station wagon. The owner was nowhere in sight, so Kurt climbed out of the truck and walked over to the driver's window. Just as he raised his hand to knock, he realized who was sitting in the car. Blaine Anderson. The window rolled down.

"Are you Kurt Hummel?" the actor asked and Kurt frowned because, well, they weren't strangers. He still nodded. "Thank god. I've been out here for an hour. Tried to fix the car myself, but it didn't work. I'm Blaine by the way."

"I know," Kurt replied looking at the actor in confusion. Why was he pretending not to know Kurt? Just then, Blaine gave him a look that seemed to say, just go with it and Kurt decided, alright, why not.

"I mean, I know who you are. Loser Like Me is my favorite guilty pleasure show." The actor laughed.

"I like your honesty. It's refreshing." He winked at Kurt and Kurt wondered if it was possible that the actor was flirting with him. It seemed pretty impossible because Kurt was Kurt and secondly,Blaine Anderson was a celebrity. He decided to distract himself with looking under the hood of the actor's car. The oil level was a little low but other than that Kurt saw nothing wrong with the car.

'What's the verdict doctor?" the actor had stepped out of the car and was suddenly right next to him.

"Give me your keys," Kurt told Blaine. He got into the car and turned them in the ignition. As he'd suspected, the car started without a problem and not even the oil lamp lit up.

"You're a miracle worker," Blaine sighed in relief. "This is my mom's car and I promised her I'd return it before five."

"What brings you to this neck of the woods," Kurt asked, wincing as soon as the words left his mouth. Could he act even more flirty? The actor just smiled though.

"Just visiting a friend. Nothing scandalous I'm afraid."

Kurt cut the engine, climbed out of the car and closed the hood. "Well, you're all set here. Tell your mom she should get her oil changed soon, but otherwise, her car's fine."

"Oh okay," Blaine sounded disappointed and slightly nervous. Kurt watched as he wiped his hands on his probably very expensive jeans yet again. "Would you, I mean, can I take you out for coffee to say thanks for fixing my car this quickly."

Kurt smiled. "You don't have to take me out for coffee, I'm charging you for this service anyway." Blaine's face fell.

"Of course, I understand."

"I didn't say I don't want to go for coffee with you, just that you don't have to buy me coffee," Kurt quickly amended, because he didn't want Blaine to think that Kurt was rejecting him. The actor's face lit up.

"Oh great. Would you mind if we went back to my mom's place though? I have a lot of young fans in Ohio and they can go a little crazy when I'm out in public."

Kurt considered the offer for a moment. He didn't really know the guy in front of him, just saw him on TV once a week, so was it a smart idea to go home with him? But if they just went to the Lima Bean, someone would definitely recognize Blaine and what if they took pictures of the two of them getting coffee?

"Alright," he agreed. "But we need to drive by my dad's shop first so I can drop off the truck. You're going to have to drive me because I don't have a car."

"You don't have a car?" Blaine asked, brows furrowed. "I thought only New Yorkers could survive without a car." Kurt laughed.

"I can't even imagine living in a place where you don't need a car. I live in L.A and if I had to rely on public transport, I'd never get anywhere on time."

"You live in L.A?" Blaine asked and Kurt nodded. "What a small world. I'm from L.A too."

* * *

Kurt turned to Blaine as they walked into his mother's house after the two hour drive from Lima. They'd spent the drive to 'get to know one another'.

"As much fun as that was, can we now talk like we already know each other? And what was that all about?" he asked.

Blaine didn't answer until they'd taken off their shoes and jackets and were sitting on the living room couch.

"It's just how I wish we'd met," Blaine explained. "I wish I'd had the chance to just meet you accidentally instead of how we met. Because maybe, then I would have had a real shot with you; if we'd gotten the chance to get to know each other like a normal couple."

Blaine was looking everywhere but at Kurt, and so Kurt took a deep breath, forced his fears to the back of his mind and took Blaine's hands into his own. It made Blaine look up.

"So, I'm not sure, but are you asking for a do over?" he asked, hoping he hadn't misunderstood the actor. Blaine's shoulders slumped.

"Yes. I want us to start over. I don't need to be back in L.A for another five weeks and Santana told me you have no plans to return any time soon either. Can we just go on a few dates and see if this could work out? I'm willing to take this as slow as you need and I don't expect you to come back to L.A until you're ready. And even if you don't want to come back at all, I'm sure we could find a way to make it work. I don't need to be there permanently either." Blaine looked at him so earnestly, Kurt was sure the actor really meant what he'd said.

"But what about your friends? Won't they miss you in that big house of yours," he joked to lighten the mood. Blaine's expression sobered however.

"Actually, I'm selling the house. We all agree that maybe it's time to strike out on our own. Jeff and Nick, they've gotten comfortable working for me instead of working to make their own dreams come true. Wes and David, they both have girlfriends who'd love to live with them, Cooper will do fine on his own and I, I kinda want to go back to my roots. I don't need a driver or personal assistants, I'm capable of taking care of myself even though I've never lived on my own. And I think it's about time that I do. If I ever want to have a serious relationship, I wanna know first that I'm not dependent on anyone."

Kurt was definitely surprised. He'd fully expected that he'd have to move in with Blaine and his entourage if they ever got serious because he didn't think Blaine would ever move out. Again, he tried to lighten the mood and failed miserably.

"Says the guy who's living with his mother."

"I can rent an apartment in Lima if you don't want me to stay with my mom," Blaine quickly assured him.

"Do you want to rent an apartment in Lima?" Kurt challenged. Blaine sighed and shook his head.

"No. I like spending time with my mom. I've been so busy the past few years that I barely ever got to see her," Blaine admitted. Kurt liked him even more for being a mama's boy. Family was very important to both of them, and he liked that they had that in common.

"You said something about coffee," Kurt changed the subject yet again.

"So you'll stay?" Blaine asked, a hopeful smile on his face.

"I'll stay," Kurt agreed and it was easier than he thought he would be.

* * *

It still wasn't a normal courtship as they tried to avoid going out in public together. Dinner dates meant that their parents - both in the know now - graciously made plans to be out of the house so they could cook dinner, in Kurt's case, or order dinner, in Blaine's case, for the two of them.

For their third official date, Blaine got them tickets for the midnight screening of The Philadelphia Story at the Columbus Revival Cinema. They figured that the chances of running into people who knew the two of them were small in a midnight screening of a 1940s movie. The cinema was old as well and had seats that let you lift the armrest. Kurt was used to holding hands with Blaine by now, but he smiled when Blaine wrapped his right arm around Kurt's shoulders and pulled him closer.

"This okay?" he asked and Kurt nodded. "And what if I don't want to wait till the end of the date to kiss you, would that be okay too?"

Kurt was sure he'd go crazy if Blaine didn't finally kiss him. Instead of answering, he cupped Blaine's cheek, made sure they were still alone in the room and pressed their lips together. He didn't take it slow. This kiss had been a long time coming and now that he finally felt Blaine's lips against his own, he wanted more than just as chaste kiss good night. He nipped on Blaine's bottom lip and slipped his tongue inside the actor's mouth when he gasped in surprise. Not that Blaine was complaining. He was kissing back just as enthusiastically.

When the lights went up again, Kurt was glad that he'd seen the movie before, because he'd missed at least half of it, lost in Blaine's kisses. He'd only kissed a few people and while he'd liked it well enough, it had been nothing like kissing Blaine. Or rather making out with Blaine, because that's exactly what they'd ended up doing. Making out in the back row of a cinema like two teenagers. But neither of them had had this experience as teenagers which made it just perfect.

"Shit," Blaine said suddenly and Kurt looked around frantically, thinking that maybe they weren't as alone as they'd thought. But they were the only people in the room.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Blaine turned bright red.

"It's a good thing you wore a scarf," he blushed. Kurt's hand flew to his neck.

"You gave me a hickey," he gasped. Blaine rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Sorry," he said. But he didn't sound sorry at all.

They held hands on the way to Pam's car because there were no people around. Kurt was staying in the guest room at Pam's house because it was too late to make the two hour drive back to Lima.

"Good date?" Pam, who was still up, smirked when Kurt removed his scarf and both he and Blaine turned bright red before they fled upstairs. They spent another ten minutes kissing in front of the guest room before Kurt yawned.

"Sorry," he blushed but Blaine shook his head.

"Don't worry, I'm tired too. See you tomorrow."

They parted with a last kiss. As soon as the door closed behind him, Kurt threw himself onto the bed face first and squealed into the pillow. It didn't matter that they were both in their mid twenties and were acting like they were teenagers. It was exactly what Kurt needed and he suspected that it was the same for Blaine. He just hoped that they would stay on the same page for a while longer and that Blaine wouldn't lose interest once he realized how slow Kurt wanted to take things. Because while he was ready to make out with Blaine, he was nowhere near ready to do anything sexual. Especially because they hadn't even had 'the talk' yet, so Kurt didn't know if they were dating, boyfriends or just fooling around.

* * *

"There's a Warblers reunion coming up and I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me?" Blaine asked the next morning. It was already close to noon by the time he and Kurt had woken up, so they'd decided to have brunch instead of a late breakfast.

Blaine was not a good cook, but he knew how to make pancakes. While he worked on the pancakes, Kurt had prepared scrambled eggs and hash browns, cooked eggs and put salmon, cheese, ham and bacon on the kitchen table.

"You want me to come?" Kurt asked surprised, because he thought they weren't telling people about them, whatever they were.

"They're all trustworthy and I kinda wanna show off my boyfriend," Blaine smiled. Kurt nearly choked on a piece of toast topped with a slice of smoked salmon.

"I'm your boyfriend?" he asked, once he stopped coughing.

Blaine backpedaled immediately. "I"m sorry, I shouldn't have presumed. I just thought with the dates and the kissing that we were, but it's okay if you're not ready," he rambled. Kurt decided to put him out of his misery.

"I'd love to be your boyfriend," he smiled and carefully leaned over the table to kiss Blaine. Still, Blaine nearly upended his glass of orange juice in his haste to pull Kurt closer and deepen the kiss.

"Just ignore me," Pam walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee maker. Again, he and Blaine turned bright red, but if he was honest, he enjoyed that he and Blaine now had something they could be teased about.

"Mom," Blaine groaned.

"Oh hush," Pam smiled at her son. "Just let me enjoy the fact that my baby boy finally has a boyfriend. Made me wait long enough," she teased. And then she surprised them by snapping a picture of the two of them, faces bright red and hands linked on the kitchen table. A few seconds later, her phone pinged and Pam laughed.

"Carole says, 'wear a scarf, your dad's home'."

Kurt groaned and banged his head against the table. Maybe this whole feeling like a lovesick teenager thing was overrated after all.


	14. The Return

**AN:** Disclaimer: I'm not Ellen DeGeneres nor am I in any way affiliated with the Ellen Show.

* * *

 **'THE RETURN'**

 **F** ive weeks later, Kurt was more than ready to return to California. Don't get him wrong, he loved spending time with his parents, but he'd also gotten used to life in L.A, and in comparison, Lima had little to offer. He was still not going out much, because the news cycle in Lima moved slower than it did in L.A. Since his departure, a lot had happened in Hollywood. A teen pop star had gotten pregnant, a Hollywood power couple divorced and a well known actor was sentenced to do jail time fore tax evasion. People moved on from Blaine and by extension Kurt when neither of them was spotted anymore. TMZ had last reported the day Blaine flew out of LAX and was caught on camera by the paps, but now that he was in Ohio, only his fans were talking about him online, speculating about his whereabouts. When he and Blaine went out on dates, they always stuck to Columbus and always went out either early in the morning, when kids were in school and regular people at work, or late at night. Neither of them had a nine to five job - though Kurt helped out in the garage daily - so they had more liberties. Still, Kurt thought it was a miracle that he and Blaine never were caught when they were out in Columbus. Because when Blaine's fans did recognize him, they usually didn't believe it really was him, because why would their idol be in Ohio of all places? When they weren't together, Blaine worked on his music and Kurt focused on his writing. He wrote three spec scripts while in Lima which he sent to the studios producing the shows he wanted to write for. Unfortunately though, no-one had gotten back to him so far. Blaine kept begging him to let him read some of his stories, but Kurt refused because what if Blaine thought they sucked? Likewise, Blaine wouldn't let him listen to anything he was working on, because his boyfriend was also self-conscious about his unfinished and unpolished work.

A few days before they were set to return to L.A, he and Blaine were snuggled up on Pam's living room couch together - they had plans to attend another midnight screening at the Revival Cinema. Kurt handed Blaine his iPhone back after checking his emails.

"Any replies?" Blaine asked and Kurt shook his head.

"I'm gonna have to try and find a job as a waiter," he groaned. "And I'm a horrible waiter. The one job I had in college, I kept dropping plates and trays left and right."

"You want me to call Ari?" Blaine wrapped his arm around Kurt's middle and pulled him closer. "I can tell him I'll fire him if he doesn't take you back." Kurt again shook his head.

"No, I knew I'd get fired when I left the way I left and it just wouldn't be fair. I also wouldn't want it get out that the only reason I got my job back is because I'm dating Blaine Anderson." He paused for a moment before voicing another concern. "And I guess I'm not ready for him to find out we're dating for real now. He'd probably take credit for that too and find a way to use it to his advantage."

"Okay," Blaine said before he brought out the big guns and used his famous puppy dog eyes on Kurt. "Can I at least read your script then? The one Ari used to get you to agree to the deal. I still haven't found my next project and maybe this could be it."

Kurt had refused to let Blaine read his baby again and again because he was afraid Blaine felt obligated to help now that they were in a relationship and would continue to do so even if he thought Kurt's work was crap. But if he was honest with himself, he wanted his boyfriend's opinion, who at the moment, read and rejected multiple screenplays a week.

"You promise to give me your honest opinion? Even if you think it sucks?"

"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you," Blaine was quick to promise.

"And you won't make any decision before Wes hasn't read it too. He has great instincts."

Blaine nodded again.

"Alright," Kurt finally agreed. "I'll email it to you when I get home."

Blaine beamed at him before he cupped Kurt's cheek and pulled him into a deep kiss. It didn't take long before they were making out on the couch like two teenagers, their kisses getting progressively more heated. When Blaine slipped a hand under his shirt, Kurt pulled back however.

"We're on your living room couch," he pointed out, not willing to admit that he was nervous about the new development. Because what if he allowed Blaine to take his shirt off and Blaine thought that meant Kurt was ready for sex.

"Sorry," Blaine apologized immediately. "I should have asked first."

Kurt groaned. If he wanted to avoid more situations like this, he'd have to bite the bullet and talk to Blaine about the things he was and wasn't ready for.

"Can we talk?" he asked, wincing when Blaine put even more space between them. "Nothing bad, I promise," he added quickly. Blaine relaxed and Kurt forced himself to get the words out. "I find you incredibly attractive and when you took those shirtless pics for People Magazine I thought Christmas had come early," he admitted, causing Blaine to blush. "And I had such a hard time not staring at you when you took your shirt off at the party," he continued, his own cheeks heating up as well. "So in conclusion, I have absolutely no problem with losing the shirts, but I'm not ready to have sex with you," he blushed.

"So I can take your shirt off," Blaine focused on the most important part of Kurt's little speech. "Like, if we go upstairs, right now?" he waggled his eyebrows.

"I'm glad to know you got your priorities straight," Kurt deadpanned, but when Blaine held out his hand, Kurt didn't protest and let Blaine pull him off the couch and up the stairs to Blaine's bedroom.

Once they were inside, Kurt stalled though, because now they were in a room with a bed and lots of privacy compared to the living room couch where Pam could walk in on them at any time.

"Hey," Blaine took both of his hands and looked deep into Kurt's eyes. "I heard what you said, okay. And I promise I won't try anything. We can go back downstairs if that would make you more comfortable."

Kurt shook his head. He'd fantasized about Blaine taking his shirt off more times than he'd care to admit and while he didn't have abs like his boyfriend, he knew he didn't have to be ashamed of his body either.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this," he winked and grabbed the hem of Blaine's shirt. "If I can't hang those posters in my room anymore, you'll have to show me the real thing."

* * *

Kurt was certain people were staring at him as he boarded a plane for L.A with Blaine. Or rather, they were staring at Blaine and by extension, Kurt. Two college aged girls were debating rather loudly whether it could really be Blaine Anderson and which of the two should come over to ask. Kurt was grateful when the fasten seatbelt sign appeared and they taxied out onto the runway.

"You ready for this?" Blaine asked quietly, also aware of the fans in the row behind them. He made sure not to lean too closely because he wouldn't put it past the girls to snap pictures of them and putting them online as soon as they landed.

"As I'll ever be," Kurt whispered back. The girls behind them had come to the conclusion that they really were Blaine Anderson and that Kurt guy and were talking about them excitedly either not realizing that he and Blaine could hear every word they were saying or not caring. 'I wish there was internet on this plane,' one sighed. 'I could tweet about them straightway before someone else spots them and gets there first.'

Kurt, on the other hand, was very grateful that only a few airlines offered wifi, because he wanted to make it back into L.A without everyone knowing about it the moment he landed. He had about a week of relative anonymity left before Blaine went on Ellen to confirm his relationship with Kurt. They'd decided that they needed to get control of the narrative again and Santana agreed that Blaine telling his story on TV would at least stop the speculations about his relationship with Kurt.

With the two fangirls behind them, there wasn't much they could do during the five hour flight. Knowing that their every move was being watched, they didn't dare to hold hands or sit close together. And the girls just wouldn't shut up. Kurt was tempted to get up and ask how the hell two twenty year olds had ended up in business class anyway. He didn't care in that moment that he only sat in business class because his wealthy boyfriend had paid for the upgrade. When Blaine excused himself to the bathroom after a second round of cocktails, Kurt got out of his seat as well and addressed the girls, trying his best to act friendly because he didn't want the girls to tweet that he was a bitch.

"Hey there," he said sweetly. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking about my friend Blaine. How about I get you a photo with him so you can stop discussing whether it's really him. We still have a long flight ahead of us and I'm sure you have better things to do than talk about Blaine Anderson."

The girl in the window seat, a pretty blonde with her hair tied in a pony tail turned an interesting shade of red before she glared at her friend, a brunette, her hair cut in a bob.

"I told you we were being too loud. But you said planes were like cars; that people in the front couldn't hear what people in the backseat were talking about."

"It's okay," Kurt told them because they seemed genuinely embarrassed.

"Everything okay?" Blaine, who had returned from the bathroom, asked.

"Those two lovely ladies would love to take a picture with you. Would you?" Kurt turned to Blaine who nodded and sat down on the brunette's armrest.

Kurt took both girls' cell phones and snapped a picture of them with their idol before he and Blaine returned to their seats. Behind them the girls were now talking to one another quietly and Blaine gave Kurt a thumbs up.

"Sorry about that," he whispered though. "Usually people leave me alone when I'm on a plane."

"It's okay, compared to some fans of yours those two were actually real nice," Kurt said, remembering the stories Blaine had told him about his more 'enthusiastic' fans and those that had led to him deleting his twitter account.

The rest of the flight passed without any incidents and once they landed in L.A, Kurt hunted down their luggage while Wes whisked Blaine away to the waiting car. Nick joined him at baggage claim and collected Blaine's bags and suitcases while Kurt took care of his own.

"So," Nick drawled. "I heard congratulations are in order." Kurt just rolled his eyes.

"I saw you two weeks ago at Dalton," he reminded Blaine's friend as they pushed their trollies through the throng of people at LAX. "So thanks, but you don't have to tell me every time you see me."

Nick stopped in his track, causing Kurt to bump into him. "Wait, you mean that was real?" he asked surprised. "I thought this was just Blaine continuing his coming out tour after he got you back on board."

Kurt nodded. "We've been together pretty much since Blaine flew out to Ohio."

"Wow," Nick replied. "What did you do, never leave his bedroom? Wes has a google alert for Blaine, he would have known if you were seen with him."

"Sorry, Nick, I don't kiss and tell," Kurt winked, because no one needed to know that he and Blaine weren't sleeping together yet and probably wouldn't for the foreseeable future.

They were lucky that day, as their arrival coincided with the departure of a rising pop star who the paparazzi at the airport were focusing on. Kurt climbed into the backseat of Blaine's car where he joined his boyfriend and Wes. Blaine handed him his phone.

"I don't know what you said to those girls, but they were nice enough not to mention you," he said.

The girls had already tweeted the picture Blaine had taken with them and were gushing about how nice Blaine was.

"Yeah, but they told everyone they met you on the way to L.A. So much for keeping your return under wrap until you went on Ellen," Wes frowned.

Nick snorted. "As if that would have happened. Someone with a smartphone always recognizes Blaine at the airport no matter what he does with his hair."

Blaine pouted and removed the baseball cap and sunglasses he'd donned before leaving the plane. "It was worth a try."

"I've made an appointment with a realtor for you this afternoon," Wes switched to manager mode. "The house is on the market and there've been some offers but so far not as much as you're hoping to get for it."

Blaine nodded before he addressed Nick and Jeff. "You know that you have a job with me for as long as you want it, right. I'm not kicking you out and firing you."

"It's cool," Nick replied. "I've been wanting to try my hand at producing music and maybe this is the push I needed."

"Jeff?" Blaine turned to his other friend.

"Well, I have to admit that I'm not too happy about us not living together anymore, but I get it. Fortunately, I'm hot so I'll still get girls without your help," his friend winked.

Blaine knew he didn't have to worry about Wes and David. Even if they didn't work for him anymore, they would have no problem getting another well paying job. And for the moment they had no plans to leave him.

The rest of the drive to Santana's apartment, Wes updated Blaine on what had happened during his absence. Ari wanted to see him the next morning to discuss the scripts he'd sent Blaine's way which worked for Blaine because he wanted to discuss Kurt's screenplay with Ari. Blaine had loved it and was relieved to discover that Wes liked it too and was supportive when Blaine told him he wanted it to be his next project. On Monday, he would start rehearsal for Bare and on Friday he would tape his appearance on the Ellen Show. He tried not to think about it too much, because knowing what he had to do made him quite nervous even though he knew Kurt was on board.

* * *

Santana greeted him in front of her apartment building and Kurt wasn't surprised to see that Brittany was with her. During Kurt's absence the two girls had grown close and Santana had warned him that he would see a lot of the dancer if he moved in with her. It was a temporary solution but until Kurt found a new job he couldn't afford to rent a new apartment. Blaine had offered to help him out financially but Kurt had declined. Enough of Blaine's fans already thought he was a gold digging whore and he didn't want to give them more ammunition by letting Blaine pay for his apartment. It was easier to ignore that fraction of Blaine's fans now that he had deleted his twitter account and had turned off the messaging function on his Facebook page. Before he'd returned to L.A, he'd also changed his phone number and email address so that now he was relatively safe from nasty comments. He couldn't do anything about people accosting him in public, but since the L.A Times article, a few girls had come up to him in Lima and apologized for believing the things the media had written about him.

"Thanks again for letting me stay with you," he told Santana after they hugged.

"It's the least I can do," she shrugged. "If I hadn't come up with the deal you wouldn't be in this mess."

"It's not your fault," Kurt assured her. "No one forced me to take the deal, it's my own fault for thinking I could date Blaine without people digging up dirt about me." He'd been naive in thinking people would only snap a few pictures of him and Blaine and that would be it.

Blaine stayed in the car while Kurt unloaded his bags, mindful of Santana's neighbors milling around the front door. Kurt didn't want his picture back in the papers while he was still looking for a job the days leading up to the Ellen interview because he was afraid that some people would only hire him because of his rumored relationship with Blaine or that others wouldn't if he kept getting negative press. Kurt had finally gotten a reply from one studio inviting him to interview for a position as a writer's assistant and he didn't want anything to jeopardize his chances.

While Nick and Jeff carried his luggage upstairs to the apartment and Wes talked to Brittany and Santana, Kurt said goodbye to Blaine in the car. For the past five weeks, they'd seen each other nearly every day but now that they were back in L.A, things were going to change. Blaine was starting rehearsal and was looking for a new place to live and Kurt had to focus on getting his own life back on track. They'd made plans to meet for lunch on Friday before Kurt would come with Blaine to the taping of his interview but other than that they wouldn't get to see one another the coming week. That didn't mean that they wouldn't talk daily but yes, things would be different now that they were back in Hollywood.

* * *

"So how do you feel about being back?" Santana asked as she poured them a generous glass of wine. She was holding hands with Brittany with her other hand and Kurt smiled because it had been a while since he'd seen his friend this happy.

"Nervous," he confessed. "I just hope things won't get crazy again after Blaine's interview. The only upside is that there just isn't anything left the media could discover about me. I just have to learn to ignore the haters if I want to be with Blaine because not everyone's going to like it. I told him once to surround himself with positive people and I guess it's time I start living by my own advice."

"Those people who say bad things about you, they're probably just jealous because Blaine's dating you and not them," Brittany added. "Sometimes people say mean things to me too when I'm with Santana. But I'd be jealous too if she was dating someone else."

Kurt had been so wrapped up in his own misery that he'd forgotten that he wasn't the only victim of homophobia and that Santana had first hand experience with cyber bullying.

"There will always be people who hate us for being gay, but if we hide who we are, nothing will ever change," Santana shrugged. "And I'd rather be hated by some than spend my life in the closet. It took me a while to get to that point, but I wouldn't go back now." She smiled at Brittany.

Kurt knew that Blaine felt the same. Even though his boyfriend had been confronted with some hate following his coming out, Blaine was much happier now that he didn't have to hide who he was anymore. He raised his glass.

"So screw the haters. I've let them have way too much power over my life for too long, but this ends now. Anyone who spends so much time and energy hating on other people can't be a very happy person. So let them have their hate, I'm choosing happiness."

"Cheers," Santana exclaimed and they clinked their glasses together.

* * *

"Good to have you back, Blaine," Ari greeted him in his office. Outside, Blaine had briefly met Kurt's replacement, a young man named Lloyd who was over the moon about his new job. Santana said he was okay, which coming from Santana seemed like a compliment.

"Good to be back," Blaine shook Ari's hand and took a seat on the couch flanked by Wes and David. "Did you get my email with Kurt's script?"

Ari nodded. "I did, but let's talk about your next project first. How did you like the scripts I sent over?" his agent asked, his face giving nothing away about whether he'd really read Kurt's screenplay or not.

Blaine had come prepared for a fight, knowing that Ari was angry with his former assistant and probably not in the mood to help Kurt.

"Sidelines is my next project," he told Ari.

"Did you even read it?" Wes added and Ari sighed.

"I did, and you were right, it's good. But it's not going to be your next project."

"Why not?" Blaine challenged him. "You think it's good and I know you know people who can make it happened. You wouldn't be my agent otherwise."

Blaine had the upper hand here because he was certain Ari didn't want to lose him to another agency. But Ari chose to ignore Blaine's veiled threat.

"You know why Brokeback Mountain was popular?" Ari asked before he answered his own question. "Gyllenhaal and Ledger, they've both been in at least one hugely successful movie before they shot Brokeback. They had massive fan bases and they only played gay so when the movie was over, their female fans could still fantasize about sleeping with them. You, on the other hand, in the grand scheme of things, are known to only a small group of people. The ones who watched your show and the ones who read gossip magazines and found out who you are through them. You need at least one commercial success before you can play the lead in a gay love story," his agent explained. Blaine turned to his friend and manager.

"Wes?"

"I agree with Ari," Wes said and Blaine tried not to show that Wes siding with Ari hurt. "You want more than your LLM fans to see the story Kurt wrote, right but I'm not sure the general audience is ready for a gay love story with a happy ending if they don't know the lead actor. The studios wouldn't go for it. I'm sure Ari could find a buyer for Kurt's script but I'm afraid they would go with someone more famous. You need to do a commercial movie first to show people you are more than a TV actor whose show got cancelled because of low ratings."

Blaine knew it wasn't easy for Wes to be this brutally honest, but they'd talked about it before Wes became his manager. That Wes would only take the job if at the end of the day they were still friends even if Wes had to tell Blaine things he didn't necessarily want to hear. And his friend was right. He didn't just want his LLM fans to see Kurt's story. Kurt's story showed that it didn't matter whether you were gay or straight, that when you fell in love, love was love. And he wanted as many people as possible to see that.

"So what movie do you think I should do?" he turned back to Ari, deciding to at least hear his agent out. Ari smiled.

"I just got a script by Aaron Sorkin. It's about the guy who invented Facebook and the studio would love you for one of the co-founders ofFacebook."

Aaron Sorkin was a screen writing god in the industry and movies he wrote rarely flopped. Blaine knew he'd be stupid to say no to an offer like that. And a movie about Facebook had to interest people, right?

"You'll still have to come in and read for them, but Dana told me you're on top of their list," Ari continued selling his pitch, but Blaine was already sold.

"And if I get this role, you'll help me get Kurt's screenplay produced?" Ari nodded. "Alright, set up the audition." His agent grinned.

"I knew you'd make the right decision. One thing I'm curious about though. Why are you helping Kurt after he bailed on you?"

Blaine smiled sweetly. "It's a great script. Whatever my personal feelings about him, I think he should get a chance to tell his story."

He left it at that and walked out of Ari's office with a smile on his face. His agent would find out soon enough what his personal feelings about Kurt were, but at the moment he liked that Ari was in the dark and thought his brilliant plan had failed.

* * *

"My next guest is best known for portraying Parker Sinclair on the musical comedy Loser Like Me. Please welcome Blaine Anderson."

Upon his cue, Blaine took a deep breath and stepped out onto the stage. His palms were sweaty and he hoped Ellen wouldn't notice. He'd never really gotten used to giving interviews in front of a studio audience even though he loved to get up on stage to perform. He'd stuttered badly the first time he was interviewed but fortunately people thought his nervousness was cute. Now, five years later and having gone through media training, he was expected to act like a pro. So he put on his most charming smile and shook Ellen's hand before taking a seat on the guest sofa.

"It's nice to see you again, Blaine. It's been what, two years since your last visit?" Blaine nodded.

"It's good to be back," he smiled easily, hiding his nerves behind a well crafted facade. Of all the talk show hosts, Ellen was his favorite because she always managed to calm his nerves a little during the course of the interview.

"You've had a tough couple of months," Ellen began and Blaine grimaced.

"You could say so," he agreed.

"But let's start with the positive. You are back at the Hollywood Bowl this summer with a production of Bare: A Pop Opera. Tell me what it's about."

This was easy to answer. "It's about two boys, Jason and Peter, who attend a catholic boarding school together and are in a secret relationship. Jason's very popular at school and all the girls want to date him. Peter's fed up with being in the closet and tries to convince Jason to come out with him. It's very angsty because they're not only afraid of what their friends and family would say if they knew, but also how the priests and nuns who run the school would react."

"You came out to the public a few months ago to overwhelming support from your fans." The crowd roared.

"I did," Blaine smiled. "I've been nervous about my fans' reaction, but they've been amazing. If I'd known they would be this supportive, I would have gone public much sooner. Every day I get messages from teens telling me how much my coming out has helped them. It's humbling to know you are seen as a sort of role model all of a sudden."

"Is that why you wanted to do the show?" Ellen asked.

"The story line has resonated with me since I first came across it. Because in a way I was Peter. But I was also lucky I had a group of friends in school who I could be open with. Without them - and I don't want to give away too much here, but if you watch the show you know what I mean - I could have easily been Jason."

"There was some backlash following your coming out?" Blaine nodded.

"I got some pretty nasty tweets and was called a pervert and a pedophile by conservative papers who advised their readers to keep their kids away from me. That hurt."

"Well they are wrong," Ellen smiled at him. "But before we talk more about your coming out, let's get back to Bare real quick. Your co-star is Sebastian Smythe, right?" Blaine nodded. "Who you've been seen with together a lot lately." Blaine nodded again. There was no use denying it. "So your fans asked me to ask you if you and Sebastian are dating."

In the audience, two young girls were holding up a heart shaped sign that had Seblaine 4 ever written on it. Blaine laughed.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but Sebastian and I are just friends. We're doing a show together so we thought we should get to know each other a bit first. Two guys can hang out at a gay bar together without it meaning they're sleeping together," he winked.

"So Sebastian is not the boyfriend you mentioned in the live Q&A where you revealed you are gay," Ellen summed up and Blaine nodded.

"He's not."

Okay, so let's talk about your coming out. The way you came out, that wasn't your original plan, correct?"

"I never planed to give an interview or come out on twitter. I'd just started dating someone new and I wanted us to have a normal relationship. I wanted us to go out on dates and hold hands instead of pretending I was just grabbing dinner with a friend. I just wanted what my friends had and at this point I didn't care anymore who knew about it. Keeping my personal life private had turned into hiding who I really was and I didn't like it anymore. If being honest about myself meant letting people know stuff about my private life, so be it. But I didn't plan to make an announcement and I definitely didn't plan to let the media know who I was dating."

"But you did end up making an announcement," Ellen interjected. Blaine nodded.

"I introduced my boyfriend to my LLM family, and my co-star, Rebecca Quinn, she wasn't happy about it. She threatened to out me to the public by exposing things about my past that painted me in an unflattering light if I didn't break up with my boyfriend and dated her instead. My team and I agreed that it would be best if I came out on my own terms before she could out me."

"I think we all know how that turned out."

"As an actor you know that nothing you do will ever be really private and I was prepared for the fallout in case Rebecca released what she knew about me and my past. A couple of auditions I had lined up were cancelled after she leaked the pictures of me in bars but all in all, her reveals didn't really hurt my career. So she went after my family and my boyfriend and that's were I drew the line. Kurt didn't deserve what she did to him. He wasn't trying to get famous, he was a nice regular guy with a sort of normal job. Rebecca outed him to the media and they dragged him through the mud without confirmation that he was actually my boyfriend. And I gotta say, even if I had confirmed that he and I were dating, that didn't give them the right to drag his past out into the open. What they did to him was horrible, so now I'm asking them to give us space. You owe us that." Blaine turned to face the cameras directly. "You severely violated his right to privacy and now you can make it up to him by giving it to him. If we're ever at a public event together, we're fair game. But if he's just going to work or shopping or whatever, you're going to leave him alone. Take as many pictures of me as you like because I knew what I signed up for when I took my first acting job. He didn't ask for any of this, so as long as his only claim to fame is dating me, I'm asking you to leave him alone."

"I'm guessing the same goes for your fans?" Ellen asked.

"I'm always happy to talk to my fans," Blaine smiled at the audience, "and as long as they don't sell the pictures they take to the media, it doesn't bother me as much. Though I gotta tell you guys, you'll always get better pictures if you ask me first," he winked.

"We're nearly out of time, but are there any projects your fans should look out for?" Ellen started to wind down the interview.

"There are some things in the works, but nothing I can talk about at the moment. But if you follow me on twitter, you'll know the moment I have any news."

"And that's it for tonight's show. Loser Like Me Season 5 is out on DVD on June 5th and you can catch Blaine live at the Hollywood Bowl in August."

The cameras shut off and Blaine headed into the audience to sign a few autographs and take pictures with his fans. After what he'd said during his interview no one asked him any questions about Kurt which he was grateful for. Once all his fans were happy, he caught up with Ellen backstage.

"You did great," she told him. "If you hadn't told me I wouldn't have known you were nervous."

Blaine laughed. "Thanks. Guess I'm not as bad an actors as my critics say. But I wanted to ask if you had a second to meet Kurt. He's a huge fan of yours."

"Lead the way."

On the way to Blaine's dressing room they ran into Ari who'd come to the studio with Shauna.

"Ellen, can I borrow Blaine for a moment?" Ari asked sweetly. Ellen nodded and told Blaine she'd meet up with him in his dressing room.

"You and Kurt?" Ari asked as soon as they were alone. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Should I," Blaine feigned innocence. "Kurt isn't working for you anymore and I haven't had bad press in weeks. I didn't know you cared."

"If you want me to do my job I gotta know stuff like that," Ari sputtered.

"Don't worry. I told Shauna as soon as Kurt and I made it official. My public image was in good hands," Blaine smiled before he left a gaping Ari behind in the hallway. Sometimes it just was too much fun to rile up his agent.

* * *

After Kurt got to take a picture with Ellen, he and Blaine left the studio together in Blaine's BMW.

"You really think the media will do what you asked them?" he turned to his boyfriend.

"If we're lucky, maybe for a week," Blaine sighed, "but I wanted to call them out publicly."

"And you're sure that was a good idea?" Kurt asked because what if the gossip sites retaliated and started a smear campaign against Blaine.

Blaine shrugged. "It was something I needed to say. Because the same guy who claimed to have learned his lesson about not outing people when he explained why he didn't out me, had no qualms doing it to you. None of them even considered that you might not be out when they wrote you were my boyfriend. And if no one calls them out on their behavior than who knows if they won't do it again."

Kurt wasn't as optimistic as Blaine but he hoped his boyfriend was right. And they had a new media strategy. Once Blaine's Ellen interview had aired, they would post pictures of the two of them on Twitter from time to time in the hope that paparazzi pictures would become less valuable if they supplied Blaine's fans and the media with pictures. At least this way, they would have control over the kind of pictures that ended up online.

Blaine pulled up to a gate and rang the bell. He'd given his entourage the rest of the day off so he could show Kurt the house he considered buying once his old one was sold. At the end of the short driveway, they were met with the realtor. Compared to the mansion Blaine still lived in, the house was tiny. It had a three car garage and only two storeys.

"I want your honest opinion," Blaine told him. "Because maybe one day you'll live here with me," he added, a hopeful smile on his face.

Kurt wasn't surprised by the admission. Blaine had roped him into picking a new house and the way he included Kurt's opinions in his decision making progress had suggested to him that Blaine was trying to find a house for the two of them.

"Alright, show it to me," he replied. Their relationship was pretty new but if they managed to stay together it seemed only logical that they would move in together at some point. At least this house was a more normal size because he would have felt weird living in a mansion.

The realtor led them into the kitchen first. Thanks to the large windows it was flooded with light and a sliding door led to the backyard. Kurt admired the state of the art appliances and the marble countertops. The kitchen also had a breakfast bar and he could easily imagine him and Blaine sitting there side by side sipping their morning coffees.

The backyard wasn't much smaller than Blaine's old one. There was a pool, a hot tub, a gardening shed and a grill. A hammock hung between two pine trees, a perfect spot for lazy Sunday afternoons, Kurt thought. Back inside, the realtor showed them into the living room which was connected to the kitchen through the dinning room.

"There's a game room in the basement and the previous owner also had a small recording studio down there. If you're interested in keeping it, he'd be willing to sell you the equipment," the realtor explained.

It was what had landed the house on the list, because initially Blaine had felt it was too small.

They finished their tour of the first floor by looking into the room designed as an office and inspecting the bathroom. On the second floor were the four bedrooms.

"There's one master bedroom and three smaller bedrooms. All come with an en suite bathroom and have a balcony," the realtor continued.

They looked into all of them and Kurt thought that Blaine would have to redecorate before he moved in. Judging by Blaine's expression when he saw the decor, his boyfriend agreed. The tour ended in the basement, where Blaine inspected the equipment in the recording studio and checked out the game room. After the tour, Blaine told the realtor she should expect an answer within the next few days before he and Kurt got back into the car.

"So, what do you think?" Blaine asked.

"I love it," Kurt told him honestly. "But I'd understand if it wasn't big enough for you."

But Blaine shook his head. "I love it too. And once we've redecorated, it's going to be amazing."

"You want me to help you redecorate?" Kurt asked. "What if we break up? I'm sure you wouldn't want to live in a house that I helped decorate."

"You're right, maybe we won't make it work. But I'm hoping that we will and that eventually, you're going to live here too. I'd want you to feel like it's your house as much as mine," Blaine smiled. "And if we break up, I can just sell the house and move somewhere else."

It was strange but sometimes when he was with Blaine he forgot that his boyfriend was a millionaire with fans around the globe. That he could buy a house without having a mortgage. If Blaine moved into a normal apartment, he could probably retire right now and easily live off the money he'd already earned for the rest of his life, while Kurt had to stay on Santana's couch because he couldn't afford an apartment while he was unemployed. He didn't have enough savings for that and still had to pay off student loans. It wasn't hard to understand why people wanted Blaine's life. But Kurt was smarter now. He'd experienced first hand that Blaine's life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows and that the prize of his wealth was the lack of privacy.

"So are you gonna take it?" he asked Blaine.

"I think so. I have to talk to my accountant to figure out if I can make an offer before the other house sells."

On the drive to Santana's apartment, they continued talking about how they would decorate the house if Blaine bought it. Kurt sent a text to Santana asking if she was home and when she replied that she was out with Brittany, he turned to Blaine.

"Unless you have other plans, do you want to come in? Brittany said the couch's great for getting your mack on," he added with a wink.

Before today, he hadn't seen Blaine for a week and it was high time for another make out session.

* * *

The next evening, Blaine picked Kurt up at seven so they could attend a Bare cast party together. The producers had postponed it a week after Blaine had informed them he would only return to L.A in time for the first rehearsal. Kurt was bouncing in his seat excitedly on the way to the Smythe's home where the party was being held, not even the prospect of running into Sebastian dampening his spirit. Kurt hadn't seen his friend Rachel, who had been cast as Ivy, for nearly three years. Her parents had relocated to New York when their daughter moved there for college, so she didn't have a reason anymore to visit Ohio where Kurt lived until three years ago. Sure they'd stayed in contact through Facebook and Skype, but he was looking forward to seeing her in person again. She'd been a diva in high school, but when she moved to New York she had learned quickly that she wasn't in Ohio anymore and that there were thousands of girls just like her in New York, all pretty and very talented. The last few times they saw each other in person, Kurt had been surprised by how much easier it was to talk to Rachel and it was when their friendship really had begun.

Blaine liked her too but he hadn't spent much time with Rachel yet because she had most of her scenes with Sebastian. Who, according to Blaine, was also on his best behavior and hadn't hit on Blaine once since the L.A Times article had come out.

The Smythe family lived in a huge house in Bel Air, similar to the one Blaine had just put on the market.

"You and Jeff can take the night off. Kurt and I can take a cab home," Blaine told Nick who had driven them.

"Awesome," Nick fist pumped the air. "Jeff knows someone who can get us into the party at Jessica Alba's beach house."

Blaine took Kurt's hand as he rang the doorbell. The door was opened by a woman in a maid's uniform who led them through an opulent foyer out onto the terrance where the party was already in full swing. They were heading for Jim Smythe when Kurt was nearly bowled over by a tiny brunette.

"Kurt, it's so great to see you," she exclaimed. "Oh, hi Blaine," she added when she noticed Blaine next to Kurt.

"Hi Rachel," Blaine greeted her. "Why don't I get us some drinks so you and Kurt can catch up."

Kurt smiled at Blaine gratefully. It really had been too long since he'd last seen Rachel.

Rachel led him to a plush white sofa and pulled him down next to her.

"So Blaine, huh," she smacked his shoulder lightly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry," Kurt apologized. "But it all happened so fast and you were busy with your tour."

"You told Mercedes," Rachel pouted.

"And she was pissed because I didn't tell her the moment I met Blaine," Kurt laughed.

"But tell me about yourself. Have you heard if your pilot is going to get picked up?"

Rachel had filmed a pilot for a show called Glee which from what she told him about it, would follow in Loser Like Me's footsteps, with the difference that it would be set in an Ohio public school.

Rachel sighed. "I don't think it's going to happen, because the studio thinks it's too soon. If people wanted to see a high school show choir, they would have kept watching Blaine's show. But my agent thinks I should stay out here for a bit and audition for other stuff."

"I'm sorry. I'd love it though if you stayed in the city. All my favorite ladies in one place," he smiled at her.

"I think I will. I met this guy in New York and he is based in L.A."

"Who is it?" Kurt asked curiously.

Rachel leaned in closer and whispered into his ear. "Do you know Jesse St. James?"

"No way," Kurt exclaimed. "I met him a few months ago and he made me think of you. Though I wasn't sure if you would hate each other or fall madly in love."

Rachel laughed. "We've only been on two dates so it's definitely too early to talk about love, but so far we get along great."

"It's a small world," Kurt observed. "Santana, you and I, we're all dating people involved with LLM."

"What? Who's Santana dating. I thought she was dating a lawyer."

Rachel and Santana hadn't liked one another in high school, but after Santana had helped him after the OSU incident, Rachel had reached out to Santana. They'd been on friendly terms since, which Kurt was grateful for because he wanted all his friends to get along.

"Brittany Pierce, she was an assistant choreographer on LLM," he told Rachel. "And she's going on tour with Beyonce this summer."

"You're talking about Brittany?" Blaine asked and handed Kurt a glass of white wine. Kurt nodded and made space for Blaine next to him on the couch.

"I just told Rachel that she's dating Santana. You wanna tell Blaine who you are seeing, Rach."

Rachel blushed before she repeated what she'd told Kurt quietly. Blaine's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets before he smiled at her.

"That's great. If you see him tell him congrats for getting the Hairspray gig."

"And if you need any tips about what not to do when you're dating a celebrity, I'm your man," Kurt joked. Rachel was on her way to becoming a celebrity herself, so he wasn't too worried about her.

They were joined by another cast member and Kurt forced himself to give Sebastian a polite smile. They were at his house after all and the last thing Kurt needed was cause a scene. To his surprise, Sebastian asked him if could talk to Kurt in private for a moment.

"Sebastian," Blaine started, but Kurt interrupted him.

'Sure,"he said, because he was curious to find out what Sebastian had to say.

He followed Sebastian into the house and took a seat opposite him on one of the living room couches.

"I wanted to apologize," Sebastian surprised him. "I guess it wasn't cool that I went after Blaine when I knew he was seeing you."

"Thanks," Kurt replied, unable to mask his surprise. "Why the change of heart?"

Sebastian seemed to collect his thoughts for a moment before he answered.

"I've been in your shoes you know. After I was outed by the press they also dragged me through the mud. I realized I was making things worse for you when I publicly went after Blaine. You had enough on your plate, you didn't needed the added speculation that your boyfriend was already cheating on you."

"So you're not interested in Blaine anymore?" Kurt asked to make sure that Sebastian wouldn't be a problem in the future.

"Oh I am," Sebastian admitted freely, "but I also know I can't force anything. He knows I'm interested if ever wants to dump you, but I won't pursue him as long as you are in the picture."

It was clear that Sebastian didn't believe he and Blaine would be together long, but Kurt could live with the knowledge that Sebastian was interested in Blaine as long as he didn't actively go after Kurt's boyfriend.

"Thanks for your honesty. I don't think we'll see much of each other, but if we do, can we agree to be civil. At least while you and Blaine are doing the show." He held out his hand for Sebastian to shake. After a beat, Sebastian took his hand and they shook on it.

"I'll let you get back to your date," the actor said and went back outside, Kurt following him more slowly.

Blaine looked up in relief when Kurt rejoined him and Rachel.

"You okay?" Kurt nodded.

"We've come to an agreement," he summed up his conversation with Sebastian.

Blaine looked relieved. Neither Blaine nor Sebastian could afford negative press at this point, and if it came out that the two leads hated each other, well that wouldn't be good.

When Rachel excused herself to take a call, Blaine made the rounds with Kurt and introduced him to the rest of the cast and Sebastian's father Jim. No one even blinked when Blaine introduced Kurt as his boyfriend, a welcome relief after the last couple of months.

They left the party shortly after one, sharing a cab with Rachel who had rented an apartment in West Hollywood. After they'd said goodnight to Rachel, Blaine turned to Kurt.

"I'm not trying to pressure you, but would you come back to my place? We've barely seen each other all week, and I'd love to spend the whole Sunday with you."

It wasn't a difficult decision. He'd missed Blaine during the last week and while he wasn't ready to have sex with Blaine - they'd only really been together six weeks - he was definitely ready to spend the night with his boyfriend.

"I'd love to."

* * *

Two weeks later, Blaine's old house was sold and he gave his realtor the go ahead to close the deal on the house he'd picked together with Kurt. Kurt had made it clear that he wouldn't move in with Blaine until they had been together at least six months and he could contribute financially, but Blaine still involved him in every step during the redecorating process. They only room they didn't change was the kitchen, where Kurt showed him how to cook a few dishes so he didn't order in every night. Wes and David had both moved in with their girlfriends, Cooper had moved into a penthouse apartment and Nick and Jeff were sharing an apartment in West Hollywood. After he moved into the new house, he had trouble sleeping at first, because he wasn't used to being alone anymore. The house was just so quiet during the day without his friend's constant presence, though he had to admit that sometimes it was nice to come home from rehearsal and not have to deal with anyone. Since the cast party Kurt usually spent the weekends with him so Santana and Brittany could have the apartment to themselves. Brittany was set to leave for Beyonce's tour in a few weeks and Blaine understood why the girls wanted to spend as much time as possible together.

He was brought back to the present when a key unlocked his front door. Even though they'd only been together two months, he had given Kurt the code to the gate and a key, because it happened more than once that he was downstairs in the recording studio and didn't hear the bell when Kurt arrived. It was just easier this way and Kurt had also promised to give him a key to the apartment he was set to move in the following week. Fortunately, Kurt's job interview had gone well and he'd gotten the job of assistant to the head writer of a new TV show called The Vampire Dairies. Blaine knew that it wasn't Kurt's ideal job, but at least his boyfriend had finally made his way into the writers' room of a TV show. Kurt had another three weeks before he started work and spent most of his free time writing, because the head writer had promised to promote Kurt to staff writer if the show got a second season and she liked Kurt's writing and story ideas. Blaine had told Kurt about his meeting with Ari and while his boyfriend had been disappointed, he'd also understood Ari's reasoning. Blaine had auditioned for The Social Network a few days ago and was now anxiously waiting to hear back from he studio.

He met Kurt at the front door and kissed him deeply, making Kurt drop is messenger bag.

"I take it you missed me," Kurt quipped when Blaine had to break for air and Blaine blushed. It was weird but being with Kurt made him feel like a teenager even though he'd spent the last couple of years sleeping with every guy who showed the smallest amount of interest. He would be lying if he said he didn't miss sex and if jerking off was an Olympic sport he could probably win the gold medal at this point. But Kurt was more important to him than just getting off and he had promised himself never to pressure his boyfriend. Their relationship progressed in a way Blaine assumed it would have had they met in high school and after what had happened to Kurt in Ohio, he understood why Kurt needed to take things slow. And on the upside, he also got to experience things he never had before. He'd lost his virginity his first summer in L.A to a guy he'd met in a bar and because he hadn't wanted to admit he was a virgin had gone straight from never having done anything to third base. Before Kurt, he'd never just spent hours making out with a guy trying his best not to come in his pants. And with the tight pants Kurt usually wore, he knew that his boyfriend was just as affected by what they were doing.

Kurt kicked off his shoes, took Blaine by the hand and led him to one of the living room couches and pushed Blaine down onto it. His back had barely hit the couch when Kurt was already pulling on the hem of his shirt.

"I take it you missed me too," he teased but raised his arms so Kurt could pull his shirt off before his boyfriend got rid of his own. Kurt didn't bother with a verbal reply and kissed him deeply instead. Blaine was smart enough not to protest. Before long, Kurt was grinding against him and Blaine reluctantly wiggled out from underneath him.

"No," Kurt whined. "Where are you going?"

Blaine sighed. "If you keep doing this, I'm going to come in my pants," he admitted. Kurt blushed before he took a deep breath.

"Who says that wasn't my plan," he said and Blaine froze.

"Really?" he asked because he needed to be sure that Kurt meant what he was saying.

His boyfriend nodded shyly. Blaine held out his hand and pulled Kurt off the couch. When Kurt looked at him with confusion written over his face, Blaine was quick to assure him that he was totally okay with the plan, he just thought it would be better if they relocated upstairs.

"Is that okay?" he asked. Kurt mulled his proposal over for a moment before he nodded.

"Just one thing," he said. "Underwear stays on," Kurt blushed and Blaine nodded frantically, just the thought of getting Kurt out of his tight jeans driving him crazy.

* * *

In early August, Blaine's show premiered to rave reviews and Kurt accompanied him to the premier party. It was the first public event they were attending together and Kurt knew that someone would probably photograph him with Blaine. They'd released a few photos of the two of them together on Blaine's twitter after his Ellen interview had aired which had also ended up on various gossip sites, but apart from that he'd miraculously been left alone by the press. Granted, he rarely went out in public these days. He'd just started his new job and when he met Blaine it was usually at either Blaine's house or Kurt's apartment. A few times, he'd been recognized when he'd gone to the store, but as far as he knew no one had taken his picture. These days, he tried to stay away from the gossip sites, knowing that if someone wrote about him and Blaine, Blaine's publicist would let them know. He'd spent part of his first paycheck on a new suit and had enlisted Santana as his hair stylist again. Santana had been grateful for the distraction as Brittany had left and she was bored without her girlfriend keeping her company.

When he and Blaine stepped out of the car driving them to the venue hosting the party, Blaine was immediately whisked away by Shauna so he could get his picture taken with his co-stars. Kurt watched from the sidelines as Blaine joined Rachel and Sebastian to pose for the photographers. He was joined by Jesse St. James who was Rachel's date.

"I have to admit, I'm surprised you're still with him. I thought for sure that the press had scared you off when you ran off to Ohio," the actor said. "Kudos for sticking around. Blaine and I, we were never best friends, but he's a good guy and Rachel thinks highly of you," he continued.

It was a strange compliment, so he returned it in kind. "Rachel likes you a lot so I guess you have be a good guy too."

Jesse laughed. "Most people would say I'm an arrogant jerk." His expression sobered. "But I really like Rachel, so I hope we can all be friends."

If someone had told him a year ago that Golden Globe Winner Jesse St. James would ask if they could be friends or that he would be dating Blaine Anderson he would have committed them to an insane asylum.

"As long as you treat her right, we're going to be friends."

A photographer called out, "Blaine can we get one with you and Kurt," while another called for a picture of Rachel and Jesse.

"I guess that's our cue," Jesse said before he joined his girlfriend, his show smile in place.

Kurt slowly approached Blaine, trying his best not to grimace as lights went off around him. Once he reach his boyfriend, Blaine wrapped an arm around him and Kurt forced himself to smile for the cameras. Blaine let the photographers snap a few pictures of them before he took Kurt's hand and lead him into the restaurant.

Okay?" he asked and Kurt nodded. He still didn't like that people wanted his picture because he was dating a celebrity instead of because he'd just written an Oscar worthy screenplay but he knew that for the foreseeable future that was the only reason people would be interested in him. Hopefully, once he and Blaine had been together for a while, people would lose interest in them, because apart from the occasional party at Blaine's house, they led a pretty boring life compared to other Hollywood couples.

Once inside, fortunately, the focus shifted back to the cast and Kurt spent a bit more time really getting to know Jesse. From time to time, they were interrupted by a reporter wanting to know about Jesse's next projects. He also met Chris Snoop that night, one of the bloggers who'd been instrumental in dragging Kurt out into the spotlight. After introducing himself to Kurt, he tried to justify his actions.

"I'm not going to apologize," the blogger said, "because if I hadn't reported on you, someone else would have and well, I gotta pay my rent too. But here's your chance to set the record straight. Let my readers know about the real Kurt Hummel."

Maybe a few months ago, he would have jumped at the chance to tell someone the truth about the allegations against him, but now that his life was finally back on track it wasn't a difficult decision to say 'thanks, but no thanks'. If he ever got famous for something other than dating Blaine Anderson, he'd gladly give an interview about his work, but right now he liked the relative anonymity he'd regained after he'd move back to L.A. Sure, people who had an interest in Blaine's life would be interested in him as long as he and Blaine were a couple, but as long as he didn't actively try to end up in the news, he was sure he would be able to lead a relatively normal life apart from the occasional public appearance with Blaine. The last few weeks had proven that it was indeed possible.

They left the party shortly after two. Kurt had asked Blaine not to drink too much because he had plans for them and wanted both of them to be sober for it.

"I'm sorry I couldn't spend much time with you tonight, but you and Jesse seemed to get along quite well," Blaine said, his arm wrapped around Kurt in the backseat of the car.

"Don't worry, I knew what I signed up for when you asked me to be your date," he replied. "At least people were more interested in you and the show than who you'd brought as a date."

"Yeah, I'm surprised I was only asked about you by a few bloggers. But I guess with Sebastian around, my private life must seem pretty boring," Blaine laughed.

The driver dropped them off in front of Blaine's house and Kurt followed Blaine inside.

"So are you going to tell me why you wanted us to stay sober tonight?" his boyfriend asked as they changed out of their suits in Blaine's bedroom.

Kurt stopped unbuttoning his shirt and steeled himself for what he wanted to say. Blaine paused what he was doing as well and took Kurt's hand.

"Hey, whatever it is, you know I love you. I know I haven't said it before because I didn't want to rush you but I do."

"I love you too," Kurt replied. It was easy to say because his feelings for Blaine had never been an issue. "And I trust you. I trust that you won't dump me once I sleep with you. I believe you when you say that you want us to have a future together. You're not like the guys I met before I know that now. So what I'm trying to say is that I'm ready."

"You are?" Blaine asked softly and Kurt nodded.

"Okay." Blaine kissed him softly before he continued to unbutton Kurt's shirt. "But if you change your mind, that's okay too. I'm in this for the long haul so there's no rush."

He didn't change his mind. When Blaine touched him it made him feel loved not dirty. He wasn't afraid that he was just good enough for one thing because Blaine had proven again and again that he was into Kurt for more than just sex. He was ready to take that jump because he knew Blaine would catch him. And when all was said and done he was glad that he'd taken a chance on Blaine. Yes, his life had been turned upside down, but meeting Blaine had also led him to something he'd given up on a long time ago. Love. In the end, that was all that mattered.


	15. The Future

**'THE FUTURE'**

 **January 2012**

" **K** urt over here," a photographer yelled, and Kurt put on his game face as he approached the reporter, Santana by his side.

Blaine had kept his word and had helped Santana get a job with his publicist Shauna two months after his Hollywood Bowl premiere. Ari hadn't been too happy, losing two of his assistants within eight months, but there had been nothing he could do about it. Kurt knew that Ari was somewhere in the crowd as well; after all, Blaine's agent and Kurt's former boss had been instrumental in getting Kurt's screenplay produced. After the success of The Social Network, Ari had honored his agreement with Blaine and had sent Kurt's script to Dana Gorden, the VP of programming at one of the largest studios. Dana had agreed to produce it as long as she was in charge of casting Blaine's love interest in the story, because she thought the story needed another celebrity to appeal to the general audience. After many negotiations, Kurt had sold the rights to his screenplay to the studio. Santana had become his publicist, because in addition to the continued interest in his and Blaine's relationship he had been faced with the press wanting to interview him about his work and his future projects. After Brittany had returned from her tour, she and Santana had moved in together, and like Wes and his girlfriend Ashley, the two girls had recently gotten engaged. At the moment, Wes was with Blaine and Blaine's date in the crowd somewhere, but Kurt had to admit that he liked it that for once the press was interested in him because he was nominated for a Golden Globe and not because he was sleeping with Golden Globe nominee Blaine Anderson. With Santana in tow, he approached the reporter who'd called out for him.

"Blaine just told me you aren't his date for tonight but his mother is. Who did you bring?" the reporter asked.

"I brought my dad," Kurt revealed, "but I think he's hiding somewhere. This is all just very alien to him."

Getting his dad into a tux had been a tour de force, but Kurt had wanted to share this evening with him. After all, his dad had always supported his decision to become a writer even if he hadn't been too happy about Kurt living in L.A. Blaine had decided to bring his mother as his date for the same reason - she'd always believe in him even when he was living on Cooper's couch and worked as a singing waiter.

The reporter laughed. "I guess this what you felt like when you first accompanied Blaine to these kinds of events." Kurt nodded.

"Yeah, it was kind of strange. I didn't understand why people were even interested in me. After all, I was just this regular guy who just happened to date an actor. But once people realized how boring I was they lost interest quickly," he joked.

Quickly was an exaggeration but after he'd been dating Blaine for a year, their relationship had just not been newsworthy anymore. A few gossip sites had reported on them when Kurt had moved in with Blaine after dating him for nine months but apart from that he'd largely been left alone. From time to time, he and Blaine posted pictures of the two of them together on Twitter which seemed to satisfy Blaine's fans and the gossip bloggers. Sure, there were still paparazzi pictures of him and Blaine online, but Kurt had learned to live with this part of his life.

The reporter nodded. "So before I ask you about Sidelines for which you are nominated tonight, I got a few requests to ask you about what's going to happen next on The Vampire Diaries. You've been promoted to staff writer this past fall." Kurt nodded. "So can you tell us what the rest of the season will be about?"

"Julie would skin me alive if I did," Kurt joked. "So yeah, I'm afraid the fans will just have to wait and see."

"Guys I tried," the reporter addressed the camera. "So tell me about Sidelines. I was told you wrote the script when you were still in high school."

"I wrote the first draft when I was in high school," Kurt amended. "It was before I really knew how to tell a story. Once I went to college for screen writing I kept rewriting it at least twice a year, so what you see now is probably my tenth draft."

"Blaine told me that when he read the script in 2009 he just knew he needed to be part of it. How did you feel about that?"

"I was flattered of course, but I was also worried that he only wanted to do it because he was dating me. I insisted that his manager read it before Blaine told his agent about it."

"You used to work for Blaine's agent Ari Gold." Kurt nodded.

"I did and I'm really grateful he decided to help us get my screenplay produced."

After the success of The Social Network, he and Ari had made peace and had struck up a friendly rapport when it became clear that he wasn't going anywhere and Ari better make nice with Blaine's boyfriend.

"Sidelines is about two boys from the wrong side of the track who fall in love against all odds. Were you worried about the public's reception?"

"I was but a lot has happened in this country since I wrote the story. Same sex marriage is becoming legal in more and more states and people are just more accepting of homosexuality than they were just a few years ago. My goal was to show that love is love, whether you are gay or straight, and I hope I have achieved that."

"Are there wedding bells for you and Blaine in the near future? I think we were all surprised when Sebastian Smythe announced last months that he'd gotten married."

Kurt tried not to give away that it hadn't been a surprise for him and Blaine. Sebastian had fallen had over heels for a British actor during his Europe tour the previous year for whom he'd moved to London. The invitation to the wedding had been a surprise because of their history with Sebastian but not the wedding itself.

"No wedding bells for us," Kurt told the reporter. "Blaine and I, we've decided we don't want to get married until we can do it in our home state. And we're not even thirty, so there's no rush for us. But I can reveal," he said conspiratorially, "that we've recently expanded our family."

Everyone who was following him and Blaine on Twitter would know that he was talking about the two cats they'd adopted from a shelter. Blaine had wanted a dog, but Brittany an avid cat lover - she and Santana currently had five cats - had convinced Blaine that cats were the better choice.

The reporter seemed to be in the know. "Good luck with that," he winked before Santana steered him over to the next guy in line where Kurt pretty much gave the same interview. He only managed to reunite with his dad, Blaine and Pam once they were inside the Beverly Hilton hotel and sat down at the Sidelines table. A waiter put a glass of champagne in front of him and Kurt downed it quickly. Even though he'd attended evens with Blaine for the past two and a half years, giving those on camera interviews had been nerve racking. His dad looked around with wide eyes as well, though when their eyes met, he smiled at Kurt.

"You did good kid," he said. "And if those foreign journalists have any taste, you're going to win this thing."

He didn't and neither did Blaine. Woody Allen won best screenplay for Midnight in Paris and George Clooney won best actor for The Descendants.But for Kurt just being nominated was a huge honor. After all, Sidelines was his first screenplay.

They only stopped by the official after show party briefly, having made plans with their friends to meet up at Rachel and Jesse's L.A home after the show. When they arrived, all their friends were in the living room. Newly married couple Mercedes and Sam were sharing a couch with Santana and Brittany. Wes and Ashley were talking to David and his girlfriend April. David had passed the bar the previous year and had taken on a few more clients since then. Cooper was there as well, flanked by three girls who seemed to have lost half their clothes on the way to the party, but he seemed happy so Kurt and Blaine didn't comment on their state of (un)dress. Jeff and Nick were taking to Little Wayne, a hip hop artist they had discovered and whose music they were producing. And Rachel, who was seven months pregnant, was sharing a couch with her boyfriend Jesse who was dutifully rubbing her feet. They all cheered when he and Blaine stepped into the living room.

When Kurt had to leave OSU, not even in his wildest dream could he have imagined that his life would be like this one day. He had a supportive family, great but unlikely new friends, a boyfriend who loved him and a fulfilling career. Together with Blaine, he'd made it through the woods and together they'd come out stronger than they were before. He'd survived his insecurities, he'd survived being dragged through the mud by the online media and he'd survived the hate he still got sometimes from Blaine's fans who thought he wasn't good enough for the actor. He couldn't predict what the future would bring, but if they managed to stick together, he was sure they could whether any storm. Fuck everyone who said Kurt Hummel couldn't get his happy ending.

* * *

 _Meanwhile on a small deserted island in the pacific ocean_

Rebecca Quinn closed her eyes and swallowed a forkful of worms. She couldn't afford being voted off the island since her career had tanked after Blaine released their conversation to the media. These days, she was lucky if she could get a role on a daily soap, but mostly she was a contestant on various reality shows. Even the fans who'd shipped her with Blaine had deserted her and were team Klaine these days. Only those who hated Kurt as much as she did still supported her because they thought Kurt had turned Blaine gay, but those numbers were dwindling daily. Maybe it was time to admit that she'd fucked up and publicly apologize to Blaine and Kurt. If she wanted to save her career, she would just have to suck it up and admit that she'd been wrong. She still thought that homosexuality was a choice and that Blaine could have chosen her if it hadn't been for Kurt. But she could admit that she'd handled the situation wrong and her involvement had, in the end, strengthened Blaine and Kurt's relationship. Now she would never know if Blaine would even still be with Kurt if she had never gotten involved. So yes, she regretted her actions because they had ruined her career. And reviving it was all that mattered to her. She was a good actress, she could convince the public she was sorry and was trying to make amends.

"You do realize you're talking to yourself and the cameras are still rolling, right?" another contestant interrupted her musings. Rebecca's eyes widened.

"You can't leave that in," she yelled at the director, but Rebecca wasn't stupid. She'd just dug her own grave just a little bit deeper and again, there was nothing she could do about it. So she gave the audience what they wanted from her and loudly cursed the day she met Blaine Anderson. At least her remaining fans would love it.

* * *

AN: Thanks for the favorites and comments! I really appreciate them 3


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